Don’t call me a girl I am a woman.
I was a girl who grew
up in Scotland and hung out with my two sisters. A skilled seamstress my mother
dressed us in identical dresses. I was expected to be a nice girl that meant
sweet, do as I was told, be a virgin until a married a good Christian boy. My
sisters and I took delight in judging others, who could never come up to our
high expectations of skinny bodies in matching outfits and shoes.
As a girl I rebelled
and took off to India. In Kashmir I left
my girlhood behind. There the males touched me as a western woman in
objectionable ways. When I walked down
the street if I was touched I thumped him or another male.
When my Mother came
to visit she was upset by my displays of anger. I never discussed my woman hood
with her nor, what being a woman meant to her.
Now I am a wise woman
–opps that almost slid off the page. I am passionate about being called a woman
not a girl. I have two grown children, a long term husband and a career. I have
earned my womanhood - definitely a wise woman.