When I was growing up, I watched "Mulan" everyday; it was my favorite movie. Mulan was tough, strong and independent. She had the perfect stature and the angelic voice each Disney princess is bestowed with. I loved how she didn’t fit the mold of her culture, but her motivations revolved around making her father proud and bringing honor to her family. She runs away from home and pretends to be a boy, joins the war, and saves china, all before she has her 21st birthday. Everything about her I loved and wanted to be. For me, this is what womanhood was. She was my inspiration.
As I’ve matured and conformed to the fads and forms of society, I felt as though I lost what it meant to be a woman. Women are homemakers. Women are sexy. Women are weak. Women are annoying. Women should love kids. I began to feel as though I, too, was not fitting my cultures’ mold. The stereotypes are endless, but so were the icons around me. I’d like to be clear, this is not a pop culture or media bashing piece, but rather a tribute to something I stumbled upon that I believe is the key to what womanhood is.
“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size.
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.”
Maya Angelou wrote this poem in 1955, and it is as true today as it was then. Womanhood is being you and being confident in who you are. There is no formula or equation us humans can create that will define what a woman should be. We were created beautifully and as Maya puts it, we are phenomenal.
Mulan still inspires me to be brave and and strong, but I know now that she is not the end of all ends to who I aspire to be. Womanhood can’t be pigeon-holed, and neither can I. My passions, my flaws and my talents are what make me, me. Every woman defines her own womanhood, phenomenally.
