Is being a Woman an Insult?

Okay, I need your help with this one. When a guy says to another guy, “Quit being a girl!” what is he inferring? I always felt funny about that phrase, but never said anything about it until I heard a lady referencing it say, “Since when is it an insult to be a woman or a girl?” Yeah! I think she’s right… or is she? It should never be a bad thing to be of the female gender. I should never feel put down just because I don’t have the same body parts as a man. And if it’s about being emotional, why are having emotions a bad thing? Are some men scared of showing or having them? If it’s indicating intelligence, well, I know women are equal there.

On the other side of it… may be a guy is saying those kinds of things because in reality he doesn’t want to be a woman. Okay well, at least we know now that guy will never have a sex change. Glad we cleared that up. But having attributes that are generally stronger in a woman like crying, etc. doesn’t make a man effeminate. Nor is it a sign of weakness. I looked up the word ‘female’ on a popular reference website, take a look at what the synonyms are –

For the adjectives: changeable, child-bearing, delicate, effeminate, effete, fair, feminine, fertile, gentle, girlish, girly, graceful, ladylike, maidenly, matronly, modest, muliebral, oviparous, petticoat, pistil-bearing, pistillate, pure, refined, reproductive, sensitive, she-stuff, shy, soft, tender, twisty, virgin, vixenish, weak, womanish, womanlike

For the nouns: amazon, babe, beauty, broad, cheesecake, chichi, cupcake, cutie, dame, doll, dowager, duchess, femme, filly, fox, frail, gal, gentlewoman, girl, hussy, kid, lady, madam, mama, matron, old bat, old lady, old woman, petticoat, piece, pinup, seductress, she, she-stuff, shrew, siren, sis, skirt, temptress, ten, tomato, weaker sex, wench, wren

Okay not all of them are bad. But I definitely feel put in a box. What if I don’t meet all of these, am I not considered a real woman? And what’s up with the words ‘weak’ and ‘weaker sex’… wow!!! May be some reference books need to be updated. This is a big topic to chew on and I would love to read what you think… (both men and women)!

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