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A woman is a female human, in contrast to an adult male, who is a man.
The term woman (irregular plural: women) is usually used for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. However, the term is also sometimes used for a female human regardless of age, as in phrases like "women's rights".
Etymology
The English term "man" (from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person") and words derived therefrom can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their gender or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "man". In Old English the words wer and wyf (also wæpman and wifman) were what was used to refer to "a man" and "a woman" respectively, and "man" was gender neutral. In Middle English man displaced wer as term for "male human", whilst wyfman (which eventually evolved into woman) was retained for "female human". "Man" does continue to carry its original sense of "Human" however, resulting in an asymmetry sometimes criticized as sexist. * (See also Womyn.) The symbol for the planet Venus is the sign also known in biology for the female sex: a stylized representation of the goddess Venus's hand mirror: a circle with a small cross underneath (Unicode: ♀). The Venus symbol also represented femininity, and in ancient alchemy stood for copper. Alchemists constructed the symbol from a circle (representing spirit) above a cross (representing matter).
Terminology
The English language's original word for "woman" was Old English wīf, akin to German Weib; it later became the modern word "wife." The modern word "woman" etymologically derives from wīfmann, with the addition of mann, "person", from Germanic mannaz. This formation is peculiar to English. The equivalents for "man" in Old English were wer (a cognate of Latin vir, "man") and wǣpnedmann, literally "weaponed person". As previously mentioned, the term man continues to carry its original sense of "Human", though this usage results in an asymmetry which is sometimes criticized as sexist. The word girl originally meant "young person of either sex"; it was only around the beginning of the 16th century that it came to mean specifically a female child. Nowadays girl is also often used colloquially to refer to a young or unmarried woman. Since the early 1970s, feminists have challenged such usage, and today, using the word in the workplace (as in office girl) is typically considered inappropriate in the United States and United Kingdom because it implies a view of women as infantile. The use remains commonplace in several other English-speaking countries. Conversely, in certain non-Western cultures which link family honor with female virginity, the word girl is still used to refer to a never-married woman; in this sense it is used in a fashion roughly analogous to the obsolete English maid or maiden. Referring to an unmarried female as woman can, in such a culture, imply that she is sexually experienced, which would be an insult to her family. In more informal settings, the use of girl to refer to an adult female is also common practice in certain usage (such as girls' night out), even among elderly women. In this sense, girl may be considered to be the analogue to the British word bloke for a man. Some regard non-parallel usages, such as men and girls, as sexist. A number of other derogatory terms for women are also in common usage. There are various words used to refer to the quality of being a woman. The term "womanhood" merely means the state of being a woman; "femininity" is used to refer to a set of supposedly typical female qualities associated with a certain attitude to gender roles; "womanliness" is like "femininity", but is usually associated with a different view of gender roles; "femaleness" is a general term, but is often used as shorthand for "human femaleness"; "distaff" is an archaic adjective derived from women's conventional role as a spinner, now used only as a deliberate archaism; "muliebrity" is a "neologism" (derived from the Latin) meant to provide a female counterpart of "virility", but used very loosely, sometimes to mean merely "womanhood", sometimes "femininity", and sometimes even as a collective term for women. More on [ Woman ]
Issues :: Society and Culture
Women :: People
RT @MadeInManila: As u should RT @WhiteMikeOz Like my krispies like my women....cocoa!----but of course!
whitemikeoz (White Mike O.Z.) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:01:15 -0000
RT @MadeInManila: As u should RT @WhiteMikeOz Like my krispies like my women....cocoa!----but of course!
It is better to give. - P.e.a.c.e. on earth ! Good will to women and men ! ! ... http://bit.ly/6A2nR1
upcominggreen (upcoming green) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:00:03 -0000
It is better to give. - P.e.a.c.e. on earth ! Good will to women and men ! ! ... http://bit.ly/6A2nR1
lOL :) RT @Rafe: All women's clothing stores should have boyfriend/husband chairs. Instant sales boost.
luckymurari (LuckyMurari) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:58:31 -0000
lOL :) RT @Rafe: All women's clothing stores should have boyfriend/husband chairs. Instant sales boost.
lOL :) RT @Rafe: All women's clothing stores should have boyfriend/husband chairs. Instant sales boost.
laptoplogic (LaptopLogic) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:58:31 -0000
lOL :) RT @Rafe: All women's clothing stores should have boyfriend/husband chairs. Instant sales boost.
Using the Law of Attraction to Change Your Life »Precious Women http://bit.ly/7EOW3D
moonfruit_queen (Maria ) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:55:05 -0000
Using the Law of Attraction to Change Your Life »Precious Women http://bit.ly/7EOW3D
i love foreign women...
VansFiend (Taylor Madison) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:55:05 -0000
i love foreign women...
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Abantu For Development - A non-governmental organisation founded in 1991 by women, for the purpose of harnessing resources to the benefit of African people. The main focus of our work is on training, providing information and advice on mobilising resources towards sustainable development within the continent. Page includes list of programs and publications.
African Gender Institute - Building intellectual capacity and establishing an African resource dedicated to strengthening and advancing the work of intellectuals, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners committed to the attainment of gender equity.
Meta Description: [ African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa - building intellectual capacity and establishing an African resource dedicated to strengthening and advancing the work of intellectuals, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners committed to the attainment of gender equity. ]
African Women's Bibliographic Database - An English language database containing over 19,000 citations from 1986 to current.
African Women's Media Center - The AWMC provides African women journalists the training, resources and tools they need to compete equally with their male colleagues. The AWMC site provides training, opportunities for networking and education, and resources by and about African women journalists.
African Womens Development Fund - Supports women's right to be treated as an equal within African society. Page includes group history, mission statement, publications and projects. [French, English]
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APC-Africa-Women - APC-Africa-Women gathers and works together with women and women's organizations in Africa and all over the world, focusing on African women's empowerment through Information Facilitation, Regional Support, Policy and Advocacy, Training and Research in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Contemporary Africa Database - People: Women - Searchable database of prominent African women, categorized by profession, field of interest and country.
Meta Description: [ Women in the Contemporary Africa Database ]
Femnet - The African Women's Development and Communication Network.
Meta Description: [ FEMNET ]
Flamme - Flamme is a network of African sisters online committed to strengthening the capacity of women through the use of ICTs to lobby, advocate and participate in the Beijing +5 process regionally and globally.
Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) - Created in 1992 as a response to the slow pace of implementation of education sub-Saharan Africa. Includes overview, mission, programmes, publications and research.
GAIN: Gender in Africa Information Network - The network encourages participation of documentalists, activists, researchers and journalists who have an interest and commitment to gender related issues in Africa and the dissemination of information.
Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa - Stresses the importance of access to telecommunications for women and how that might help them to achieve full participation in African society.
Jenda: Journal of Culture and African Women Studies - Jornal promoting the research and scholarship of African women to the global African community and friends of Africa.
Meta Description: [ Jenda: Journal of Culture and African Women Studies ]
West Africa Review: Special Issue on Gender - Peer-reviewed papers and reviews on women and gender in Africa. (August 2000)
Meta Description: [ West Africa Review ]
Women in Africa's Development - Africa Recovery/UN/Briefing Paper #11 on Women.
Meta Description: [ Africa Recovery, a quarterly magazine produced by the United Nations Department of Public Information, track the continent's economic development. ]
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