Women: We Are Tomorrow's Future

  Men please read the following disclaimer: these views are meant intentionally for women, you are encouraged to proceed reading with extreme caution.

  Becoming a woman is a long, drawn out tear-filled process that takes us usually somewhere into our twenties to reach - maybe even thirties. I still haven't made it there and I'll be 21 in December. Anyway, while becoming a woman isn't near as long a process as becoming a man, (they usually wait around into their forties, maybe even later, I don't know but it definitely doesn't happen in their twenties), I would say that it's harder than becoming a man.

  From the time we are born, we are all told that we are beautiful, even if we are God's gift for cracking mirrors. In fact, we believe this until around our early teens, 13 for me. We women actually believe everyone's comments about being beautiful; even if you are truly beautiful as a child, your teenage years are where your beauty goes to die.

  While some suffered longer than others, we all went through acne breakouts that required divine intervention, unexpected and irregular visits from our most hated relative Aunt Flow, stretch marks from your body growing in weird places, the sudden realization of how important your number on the scale is, the fact that you look like a gorilla according to your armpits and legs and then yes that hell bound training bra. We've all been there and that's not even a complete list.

  The teens is the beginning of the woman process and if we are lucky our knobby knees are slim, toned legs, our acne subsides besides the occasional breakout, Aunt Flow gets over it and makes more predictable visits, the stretch marks fade, you learn how to shave and find importance in tanning your skin into leather, your blossoms are Victoria's Secret worthy and maybe you learn to ignore the number on the scale. But hopefully after such a ridiculous ordeal you've come out stronger and adhering to the world's view of beauty, if not you are still beautiful, in your own way, whether it be your good looks, your hilarious sense of humor, your passion for saving animals, whatever it may be.

  But becoming a woman doesn't stop after the "teens." In fact, I'd say it continues on for many years after. Much of it is learning through mistakes and stupid ideas. Including dating "bad boys," splurging on shoes, experimenting with things you shouldn't be doing- you know what I'm talking about. We have all been there, or maybe we still are in the process. Its hard in this day and age to become a woman, so many critical eyes are constantly telling you how to be and what makes a real woman. My direct opinion to all of the judges out there is, being a woman is how you choose to define yourself and finding your path in life after you've had your fill of the "world."

  With being a woman comes a lot of responsibility, many of us become mothers, some of us hold down the single life, while others never quite calm down and endeavor to riot society into going green. Responsibility and how we handle it, though, is just one key factor in making us a woman. Our handle on life values and keeping our materialistic goals in check is all part of it. Learning to love like a woman, learning to be fearless like a woman. It's all part of a beautiful cycle. Some of our lives end tragically before we can reach the end of our coming of age, but for those of us who do make it, we realize that all along we are the inspiration of the world. Without our passion, devotion, ambition and how could anyone forget, our way of loving, the world would be so bleak.

 For all of you ladies out there, young or old, woman or getting there, stay classy. You are tomorrow's future.