The nature of womanhood changes over the course of the years. I certainly don’t have the excitable hopes or resilient bones I did ten years ago. How do ideas of womanhood change over the course of ten years?
Written by Aarushi Ahluwalia
On Periods
At 15: “I don’t know what everyone is always complaining about, it’s only three days and it doesn’t even hurt that much.”
At 25: “If a woman commits murder while on her period, there should be some kind of reduced sentence or pardon policy.”
On My Mother
At 15: “She really needs to calm down.”
At 25: “How has she survived so many years of homemaking and cleaning and marriage and children and dogs and social work without taking to a full time career of alcoholism? Is she magic or something? Is there a secret drug you only get if you become a mother? Can I pretend to be a mother to get it? It better not be cocaine.”
On Hair Removal
At 15: “There is no way I’ll be doing this forever, I will figure out a way to do this that doesn’t feel like butchery. I will. I’m smarter than the whole world.”
At 25: “Maybe I’ll try that magic powder, maybe it’ll kill me and I won’t have to do this anymore. I’m stupid as hell.”
On The Pay Gap
At 15: “No way this is real, people are just being crazy and misunderstanding. It doesn’t even make sense to pay two people different amounts for the same job.”
At 25: “If I only use my last name and communicate only through e-mails, could I negotiate my fee before they figure out I’m a woman? I guess I could bind my chest and grow a beard if they want to take a face-to-face meeting. This is hopeless.”
On Making Money
At 15: “Why do people work for such low wages even after spending years getting educated? I won’t do it.”
At 25: “If they offer me two cans on beans for one story I should probably take it, it’s higher than the industry average. Plus I can have two whole dinners this week.”
On Writing
At 15: “This is fun.”
At 25: “This is literally my only marketable skill.”
On Job Skills
At 15: “I speak well, I write well, I’m smart, I’m learning to code…”
At 25: “Can provide in depth analysis of every Harry Potter book from a political perspective. Really good at insulting people. Terrible at working in a group. Can go a full 16-hours without coffee.”
On Achievement
At 15: “I’ve already won the academic excellence award and the debating trophy but I still have so much left to win.”
At 25: “I didn’t break the yolk on the last egg I fried. And i didn’t even cry when I had to start over on the panel I spent a week putting together. Who’s a champion that’s even wearing pants today?”
On Children
At 15: “That’s what I am, right?”
At 25: “That’s..what I am still, right? No? Please. Pleeeeeeese. I eat candy and forget to brush my teeth all the time?”
On Cleanliness
At 15: “I don’t know what mom is always complaining about, it seems to happen itself. My room has literally never been messy.”
At 25: “I’m living in a mountain of trash and my cat has built herself a fort somewhere in there. I wonder if I could join her and wish the mess away?”
On Recreation
At 15: “I guess I’ll go meet some friends at the café or ride my bike with them.”
At 25: “I don’t want to go out. I’ll watch South Park and have a glass of wine. Now if only my boyfriend had a party to go to…”
On Sex
At 15: “This is fun. What could ever go wrong with something so awesome?”
At 25: “Sweetheart? I think I have a yeast infection from all that massage fun. Why would anyone ever have sex?
The Pamphleteer 