Words By Kathryn Ringwood — Lori Brook Johnson

This speech was written by a local young person. I heard these words spoken by Kathryn at an open mic event, and I knew instantly that I needed to share it with as many people as I could. I hope you are as impacted by Womanhood as I am.

Womanhood

When reminiscing about my childhood, all I can see are women. In all of my photos and memories -the good and the bad- they are sculpted and polished by women. I was raised by a single mother who was raised by a single mother. My grandmother had two daughters, those two daughters had four daughters themselves. Every holiday, every family meal, every birthday, every health scare, and every vacation was spent surrounded by women. I experienced my highest highs and my lowest lows with women. Through my seventeen years of this pilgrimage called life, I’ve learned that there is nothing stronger than the bond of womanhood.

`The importance of women has been seen in religions and cultures around the world. From Mary Magdalene, the mother of Jesus, to Khema, one of the chief female disciples of Buddha, women are worshiped globally in many cultures and religions. From the beginning of time, women have been praised. However, from the beginning of time, women have also been disparaged.

Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle is quoted as saying, “The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities; we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness.” Now, I do find qualms with arguing with a man who lived over a thousand years ago, yet the contradiction of worshiping goddesses such as Aphrodite and Athena while also citing that women are defective is a problem that I’d think one of history’s greatest philosophers would’ve been able to catch.

I would’ve liked to quote a female philosopher from Ancient Greece; however, every figure that came up on the Google search either had sparse evidence of existence or their writing had been lost to the sands of time. One of the most feminist pieces of writing that I could gather from Ancient Greece was written by the female poet, Corinna, in which she wrote, “I sing of the virtues of heroes and heroines.”

Corinna’s words make me think, who is my heroine? The first woman that comes to mind is Joan of Arc; but is she my heroine? My definition of a heroine is a brave woman to whom I look up to in times of strife and loneliness. To be completely honest, my heroine isn’t just one woman. My heroines are my grandmother, mother, friends, sisters, peers, and teachers. They are strong in unique ways and have each taught me how to be a better woman.

I believe one of the key pillars of womanhood is strength. I never considered myself as a “strong woman,” it had never occurred to me that the ability to overcome adversity was a show of strength. When my mother died and I was surrounded by a group of supportive women, it didn’t occur to me that we were strong. Death is unavoidable, death molds life itself. The women around me helped me find life in the face of death. To me, that is strength.

I see strength when I see a mother giving birth to a child. I see strength when I see the scars of my grandmother’s battle with cancer. I see strength when I see a little girl getting up after falling. I see strength in the women scorned by history for being seductive or god-forbid powerful. I see strength in the tears of a mother sending her daughter off to college. I see strength in the clutched hands of a family burying one of their loved ones. I see strength in you.

Womanhood is many things: friendship, tears, happiness, singing, purity, or even hatred, the underlying foundation of womanhood is loss. Whether it be loss of virtue or loss of skin. Womanhood contains loss. Nonetheless, womanhood also provides gain: gain of wisdom or gain of trauma. The bond that holds women close is created and defined by the losses and gains that we experience.

I wake up every day ready to gain or lose something; however, I am not afraid for I have my women to guide and comfort me through anything that happens. To me, that is the greatest gift. I yearn to gain more bonds with women, lament our losses and celebrate our gains together. For the comfort of shared emotions is outweighed only by the bonds I share with women.

S- Womanhood and its importance

O- 2028 , Kathryn Ringwood’s first TED Talk

A- My fans, scholars, loved ones, and, media who attended my speech.

P- bring awareness to the joys and journey of womanhood and my appreciation for women.

S-Kathryn Ringwood, Oscar- Award winning actress, activist, and author

TONE - Inspirational, grateful, sentimental, passionate, and spunky

I decided to write a speech on womanhood because I’ve wanted to since the beginning of the school year. I started off with the abundance of women in my life and my age to set up my expertise on womanhood. By transitioning to the ancient origins of female worship and the worldwide praise of it, I was able to juxtapose it with ancient origins of sexism. The quote of a famous philosopher, Aristotle serves as a device to further bolster the ancient origins of sexism. The contrast of the Greek sexist with the Greek feminist serves as a way to show how feminism prevails even in the face of such an intense patriarchy. I use Corinna’s quote as a transition to my modern views on womanhood. I highlight the strength of women and the numerous forms strength takes in helping prevail through real life examples such as my mother’s death. I repeat the numerous ways I see strength and end it with “I see strength in you” to inspire confidence in the reader. I highlight the all-encompassing ways womanhood inhabits to highlight the importance of bonds with women. I end the speech with my yearning for more relationships with women to highlight my love and fondness for the bonds of women.