From the Personal to the Universal

Taking a story that is personal to an individual and relating it to the universal experiences of all can be difficult, but with my focus on womanhood and what it means to a woman in the twenty-first century it should be easily comprehensible for a little over half of the population. Regardless of the definition that one assigns to womanhood, or the individual experiences one has had because of their gender identity as a woman, there is an obvious commonality – that there is a need for this discussion on gender. Whether someone is well versed on the topic of gender, or has hardly given any thought to his or her personal gender identity, the concept of gender has shaped each individual living within our society. Taking my personal perspective and the perspective of those I interview, along with the perspectives of those beyond my inner circle through blog posts or podcasts, I can create a cohesive narrative detailing womanhood in the twenty-first century. My personal perspectives have been shaped by childhood experiences, both positive and negative, and I will be periodically interjecting pieces of my own story. With this, I also hope to weave through the ethnography experiences I share with the women in my life I have already interviewed, such as my roommate and my aunt. In addition, the perspectives that come from academic journals or other such resources will provide the meat of the paper, as it is concrete evidence of shared experiences worth writing about.