“Check the box that applies: Male or Female.”

Many of us have completed this senseless act in pursuit of filling out almost all basic applications. I’d probably be safe to say that not many of us women have actually taken the time to ponder the six lettered word “female” that we check. What does it mean? Do we realize the extensive history and the legacies left behind of those before us who also claimed this gender? If you haven’t ever thought about it, maybe you should. Being a woman is arguably one of the most substantial ways one can identify themselves as. Your identity is an essential tool in life that if you can learn to behold and weld it, it can essentially essentially help you create the reality that you want for yourself. Being a woman means far too many things to put into words, but in my attempt to do it justice here is what being classified as one means to me.

Being a woman means confidence. There’s a copious amount of things, as a woman, that we can wear very well, but confidence is definitely at the top of that list. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

Being a woman means working hard. In a world that originated as and still is largely dominated by a male sphere of influence, women naturally have learned that their success won’t come easy. It is something that if they aspire to have, they must work harder than everyone else around them. That means nights on end working overtime, doing the little things others aren’t thinking of in an undying effort to be noticed. But we wouldn’t want it any other way, it’s just more satisfying this route.

Being a woman means wearing your heart on your sleeve. For some reason there is a negative connotation with being “too emotional”, and to some degree that may be correct. But for women our emotions, compassion and our hearts are what distinguish us from the rest. Embracing our differences leads us to our true destiny.

Being a woman means being the bigger person. Life can be extremely unfair, and women have suffered at that brunt of the stick a lot more than we may care to admit. But does that mean we should be spiteful towards the animosity? No. We fight with everything we have and in the face of adversity we will swallow our pride and do so with a smile on our faces.

Being a woman means loving yourself, flaws and all. Everyone seems to be a victim of the media at one point or another, especially women. But just because we don’t fit someone’s ideal image or stereotype of us doesn’t mean we should believe them. We must first love ourselves before we can ever love anyone else. We must be our biggest fans, no matter how loud the voices in our heads may be screaming otherwise.

Being a woman means being a trailblazer. Visionaries, innovators and revolutionaries, us women have set the tempo for so many ground breaking discoveries in the world around us. Everywhere you look in history, there we are. Standing tall and making our voices heard. Behind every strong man is an even stronger woman, right?

Lastly, being a woman means being proud. Women are incredible, ceiling-breaking, record shattering people who never seem to stop changing this world for the better. Take pride in who you are, what you do and all the others who share the honor and privilege of being a lady. Remember, anything anyone else can do, you can do better if you really wish it. Keep grinding out there ladies, one day everything will pay off.

My name is Mackenzie Damerow and I am a woman. I am a confident, hard working, emotional, loving and most importantly a proud person who isn’t ashamed to say it. I’m not afraid to demand what I’m worth and fight for what I have rightfully earn. All I ask of the world as I continue to live my life is to not define me by the four walls of the box I check. I promise you that I am so much bigger than what your preconceived notions of me may be.