On Being A Woman: Notes on An Evolution
All societies exert extraordinary power and influence in shaping not only an aggregate or collective identity, but the individual identity as well. Social “rules”—some of them static, others dynamic—define widely held customs and values, how we relate to each other, and how we see ourselves within the context of the whole.
American society is no exception, even with social rules that are ever shifting and a political and cultural history rooted in race and class ideation and conflict. Who decides what the collective identity is, and, consequently, what the individual identity is? And in this framework, what does being a woman mean?
Leid Stories, in a nod to Women’s History Month, grapples with the question in a fascinating, no-holds-barred personal essay by host Utrice Leid that confronts prevailing views about feminism, gender politics, and racial and cultural supremacy.