Does anyone enjoy being a woman anymore?  Some of the things entered
here recently make being female sound like an endless series of
various unpleasantnesses.  Here's the place to say what's good about it.

100 responses total.

  I'll say this:
  I'm not a woman, but I am glad they exist; if not there would be no song,
no literature and no reason for going on in this life. Women are a ray of
sunshine after a long rainy dreary day.

My goodness, there are so many wonderful things about being a woman.  I
wouldn't even begin to know where to start.  Not the least of it all is to
be able to carery a child in your womb and then to be able to nurse that child
and give it its first and most essential sustanance.  Having to deal with a
period every month is a nusance but no where as unpleasant as it must sound
when we (women) complain about it.  We certainly dont have to deal with being
embarrassed by having erections at unwanted times, nor nocturnal emissions.
And many of us can have multiple orgasms.  I'll let others chip in from here
on.

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I love being a woman.  I don't have to shave my face every day, I can cry
whenever I want to, I have a shapely figure, and we can get away with any hair
length or clothing style.  =)  Oh, and if I pout well enough, I can get a man
to do all the icky jobs.  <eg>

  Not this one, my dear. ;) Well, maybe. ;)

Yea, women have a *lot* more freedom to be themselves and do as they
please.  Men have to jam themselves into the macho "manly" mold or 
*really* suffer for it.  (Though A^2 is much better than most places
that way.)

Not being macho isn't valued very much among some women ya know. In the end
they (severe exaggeration) all want a "real" man.
On the other hand, trying to be macho isn't all that great either, especially
when you haven't got special physical skills (skiing, rollerblading, squash,
skateing, surfing, body building). I fit none of mentioned physical skills,
I play a fair game of soccer, but I certainly am not good.
Nay, If showing off is required let me just be myself.

Sometimes women are to be envied:
bearing children, multple orgasms, great figure, femininity, grace.
Sometimes not:
harassment, rape, pms...

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Why Bees likes being a chick:

Long hair. Much more fashion options. Fake fingernails. Being graceful. 
Guys who insist on carrying your luggage and opening doors for you.
Being curvy. Being able to be pregnant. Is socially acceptable for me to shop
when I am depressed. Can cry over stupid things and not be made fun of. Can
write off odd cravings as PMS. Can paint my toenails. Can share a bond with
other chicks that guys do not have with other guys. Can just whisper the word
"period" and watch guys run the opposite direction. Enjoying the fact that
sometimes guys find me mysterious. Tossing my head back in laughter when I beat
a guy at something like arm wrestling. Having maternal feelings, wanting to
take care of things. Getting to explain to guys what a velcro roller is (a guy
thought it was something you'd use in a laundry room, I told him it was for
hair). Indulging in my perfume fetish. Being able to have long legs that I can
show off with black tights.

I'll think of more later. 

"Is socially acceptable to shop when I'm depressed" ???  I don't understand -
is that different for women than it is for men?  Sometimes buying a neat new
toy helps me when I'm depressed.

A couple of those things you said make it sound like you enjoy making men feel
embarrassed and inadequate.

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oh but i have some of mentioned qualities too Val.
I work fulltime, do the my hoeseholding and can cook very well.
That's why I like to have to have people over for dinner, so that's my
nurturing side, grin.
In fact, in life what I want most is to work half time and take care of the
kids half time, and the other half time would be my partner.
It's an illusion, I know.
Uhm, I meant to say that the kids are taken care half time by my partner.
But making the big sacrifice and stopping with work altogether...

But unfortunately, a lot of the image of guys that's been coming up in this
item holds true...

Ohh dear. I do see where you all got the "I like stomping on guys" view.
Really, I don't rejoice in making anyone feel bad. Where I used to work was
99.5% female. All we had to do was say something like "Gee, I feel real
bloated, it must be time for my period" around a guy and they would be out of
there. I guess it's just funny to see how guys react to female things. But
there are many guys, like here on Grex, who don't get all goofy about it and
can discuss it like adults.

I like men. A LOT. Really, I do. :)

Well, I believe you, and I guess I overreacted.  I think it can be all right
to tease people, as long as they don't get hurt.  (I mean, there's such a
thing as "playful teasing".)  Some people have trouble telling when they've
crossed the line from playful teasing to hurtful teasing, though, and those
people shouldn't tease at all, IMO.

Yeah, I have to watch that. 

 I don't take teasing very well; I tend to respond with small arms fire.

 I also don't like male bashing, because it not only demeans me, it also
demeans you. 

Here's something I never liked about being male; maybe that translates into
something other people like about being female:

When I was in high school, I always felt it was up to boys to "make the first 
move" when they were attracted to a girl.  I was very shy, so I never did,
despite having nearly overpowering feelings of love and lust all the time.
This was enormously frustrating, but I felt I had no one to blame but myself,
so I just got depressed about it.

As I've gotten older, I discovered many exceptions to the "make the first
move" rule among mature women.  Adult society seems to have decided it's silly
and discarded it.  But teenage society, it always seemed to me, was still
stuck with it.  (Then again, maybe the problem was just that no one was
interested in me.  ;))

MAle bashing? Nah. Ok, how I meant it was like this: It makes me happy when I
accomplish something that anyone thinks I can't do. Paritcularly if it's
something most women don't do. So if I, say, beat a guy at arm wrestling, I
can't help but feel good. But that doesn't mean I think the guy is any less a
person.

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It was so interesting and touching to read your comments, Mark about having
to "make the first move" and what that meant to you.  When I grew up, a girl
never made the first move, so I often pined from afar.  Dreamt, wished and
hoped.  And then, when I got old enough to realize I "could" make the
first move, and that it was accepted by society, I was already long
married and not
about to, nor did I need to.  But your comment made me think of so many
years
of time wasted and things that might have been, had I felt it was acceptable
to show a guy that I liked him first.

It really is a dumb convention, isn't it?

Indeed that it is.
Making the first move. Well, let me tell you something.
Holland may be reputed for its liberal thoughts and the straightforwardness
of its inhabitants, but when it comes down to it, it still is the guys that
have to make the first move.
Why? I guess it is because on a social scale people get along quite well,
nothing to be worried about. But when it comes down to the kissing part, or
the shall we spend the night together phrase, most times it goes without
saying, and if so, then let the men take initiative.
So, my teenage years were lonely and my teenage nights were sweaty, with a
pillow as substitute (grin).
In college days it all changed. There was no more need for showing off my
muscles (non-present), but rather my wits.
Still, I have had some thirty hassles, one-night-stands and some steady dates
(in which I was steady in a loyal way, no sleeping around), but in all these
encounters only two or three women made a pass at me.
Which sometimes makes me wonder whether all were evenly and willingly
consenting to my amourouse actions. But I guess, I willn ever know.
In honest, I think that all my flings were try-outs for steady stuff. All this
short-term work isn't really my cup of tea.
A lot of words to say that .

  Nowadays, making the first move could be called sexual harrassment. I don't
even *look* at women anymore, much less speak to them. I find it very hard.
I just don't need any more rejection.

A couple of past posts reminded me of the nurturing thing...

I like being a chick (thanks, Trisha) because I think men bond more readily
with females when it comes to emotional stuff.  I love being a shoulder to cry
on or just someone to hug.  I usually feel closer to men because of this.  I
have one friend who tells his best guy friend everything, but when it comes to
heavy-duty emotions, he calls me.

I also enjoy that twinge I get when I hear a baby cry or say, "Momma" off in
the distance.  (This does NOT include wailing and whining).  =)  I find it
funny that I can hear it clearly, but a male friend next to me won't even
notice.  

Females can get ultra-mushy, too.  A guy in my writing class last semester
wrote a poem about being lost and alone at sea and wanting to go back to what
we all thought was a girl.  Then, he told us it was a poem for his mother
telling her how much he missed being young and being able to cry on her
shoulder.  The guys were kind of blank, but all the girls, no matter how tough
they were, all went, "Awwww...that's so *sweeeet*..." glassy-eyed and all.  =) 
It cracked me up.

Mark - your story about being pressured to make the first move and knowing your
general nature wanted me to reach through the computer and give you a
comforting hug.  <g>  Maternal instinct strikes again!!!

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Valerie, your sitting position is so funny to me because from early teenaged
years on, that was my favorite sitting position.  I eventually couldn't even
eat without sitting like that.  I think I started it when I was playing
"jacks" or marbles and sat for hours with my  legs out of the way.  I am not
even sure if I can sit like that today.  After I log 0ff, I will try it.  I
had forgotten all about it, until reading your post, and it brought a smile
to my face.

Also Jan's posting before, that this has been his best year yet, brought a
smile to my face and my heart.  I am so happy for both of you.

I think the only time I wish I were a guy is when I have to use a public
restroom. Nothing grosses me out more than having to put my tootie on some
toilet that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in 20 years. I always put toilet
paper over it but still. I know some women can squat but I am not one of them. 

The line to women's restrooms are usually much longer too.  I remember going
into the men's room as a child (under 10) so I wouldn't have to wait.

I used to be able to do that kneeling thing, but I've gotten much stiffer the
past few years, and I can't anymore.

Ya, and the stalls are almost never big enough. Plus there is no place to put
your purse! I know most doors have hooks on the inside, but I am wary of them
because anyone can reach over and snatch your purse off the hook. 

What is most vile is when I go to a public restroom and see that someone's left
a dirty pad on the floor or on the paper dispenser. Is it too difficult to use
the little wall canister designed for their disposal, or wad it up in toilet
paper and take it to the trash bin?

And while we're on the subject, ever notice that women will never do #2 in a
public restroom? I for one will wait until I get home, unless I'm sick or
something and it won't wait. Guys on the other hand will make  no effort to
hide their magazine or whatever and stroll to the restroom, making sure
everyone knows why they were in there for 15 minutes! 

(Sorry, I took NyQuil earlier and I think it's taken effect)

<grin>

So one of the "nice things about being female" is the way your
character is tested and built upon by public toilets.  I like that.
Next "nice thing," please.

Comment on #33 -- our family made several comfort-station stops on the Ohio 
and Indiana toll roads (Interstate 80) this past week, traveling to and from 
Chicago area.  The stalls had *both* coat hooks and (much lower) purse hooks --
 with polite signs requesting that I use the purse hook to protect myself from
purse snatchers.  The only problem was that my current purse has a *very* long
strap, and the purse sometimes dragged on the floor.

Our character is not tested and built upon by public toilets, Michael.  It's
tested by how well we put up with others.

I dunno... public toilets can REALLY annoy me. :/

I don't think Valerie's comment about women being more flexible than men is
trivial at all.  I *really* wish I was more flexible, and I know I should work
at it, but it's often really painful to do so.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss