The current term is “Natural Born Woman”. The definition….. Well I am not quite
sure. It has come into the lexicon because
of the recent conversations surrounding the Miss Universe Pageants. I do know that I don’t like this current triad
as it connotes something that is very superficial and used in what I consider a prejudicial way.
I first noticed this term when Jenna
Talackova was initially denied the right to compete in the Miss Canada competition. This past
weekend this term was used again, when the eventual winner of the Miss USA competition,
Olivia Culpo, Miss Rhode Island, was asked as part of the interview round "Would
you feel it would be fair that a transgender woman wins the Miss USA title over
a natural-born woman?"
Natural Born Woman? What the heck is a Natural Born Woman
anyway? What are the requirements for
being classified as a Natural Born Woman, an NBW? Let’s break this down, as the sports analyst
will tells us.
Natural. Through Dictionary.com we find the first
definition is; 1. Existing in or formed by
nature. Ok, so I guess that would
mean a person would need to have been created through a natural process of
conception and child birth. Since we do
not yet create and birth our population through large tubes or farms where we
grow people like plants, I guess we have narrowed this down to every single
person formerly or currently living.
Born.
Back to Dictionary.com, my personal favorite. I find the second definition of this word to
be particularly useful in the situation; possessing
from birth the quality, circumstances, or character stated. So once again we come back to being born a human
being in this world. But we add to that,
having a quality, a circumstance, or a character of some other stated
condition. Part of this can be physical, but most of this is beyond the
physical. It is of the mind or the soul
or the essence of who a person is.
If one is a NBW, then the stated
condition of this phrase is Woman. Ah,
now we are to the crux of the entire matter.
Woman. What is the definition of
a woman? What makes a woman a woman? Guess where I go next?
The first two definitions I find a bit
broad or circular in their definition; 1.
the female human being; 2. an adult female person. Definition number 4 is interesting and yet I
find limiting; a wife. So an unmarried person could not be defined
as a woman? By its very nature, the Miss
Universe competitions are restricted to unmarried individuals. Using this definition, then all of the
contestants fail the NBW test.
I think definition number 5 gets more to
the heart of the matter; the nature, characteristics,
or feelings often attributed to women; womanliness.
I intuitively understand what those
using the phrase NBW mean. They are
expressing that to be a NBW one needs to have been born with the genitalia associated
with a female person. I think we find in
defining the individual words Natural Born Woman, genitalia has nothing to do
with being a woman. It can be part of distinguishing
what a woman is. But really, to limit
the definition, the essence of being a woman, to strictly the genitals they
were or weren’t born with, in my opinion is very demeaning to all women or any
person for that matter.
So we return to the word Woman. What are these mystical Natures, Characteristics
or Feelings often attributed to women?
As a Transgender Woman I can only say how I have “felt”, my “feelings”,
and I can say that they have always been in direct conflict with my male
friends and family and how they expressed themselves. These feelings have always been in conflict
of the need of society to make me act, dress and look a certain way. Thus I know and associate my feelings with
those of being a woman.
My Characteristics had attempted to be
molded by my parents and society to try and define me as the other males we see
in society, yet, I never fully acted that way.
I was never able to be that kind of a person in the way I acted.
And my Nature, as I would define it, my
inner soul or essence of the person I truly and honestly was born as, has
always been what society would define as feminine or female or that of a woman.
Can anyone say that Jenna Talackova did
not embody the Natures, Characteristics or Feelings often attributed to women?
In today’s medical and psychological
world we now have a much greater understanding and can help individuals like
myself to bring the exterior we present to the world in line with the definition
that society claims is that of a woman.
Once the exterior is in line with the inner essence of a person can they
truly become a Natural Born anything.
So can we now eliminate this phrase
Natural Born Woman? Because those that
use this phrase, are not using it in a way that truly falls under the
definition of the words this phrase contains and the phrase itself can define a whole host of women!!
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