Definition

A human being socially categorized as female, who therefore carries a heightened risk of being abused, discriminated against, or diminished because of that categorization.

Motivation

A proper definition must name what all members of a category share. For woman, anatomy does not suffice (not all who are called women share the same organs), nor do psychology or personality. The only consistent denominator is the social consequence of being placed in that category: exposure to systemic discrimination. Thus, the term woman does not describe an essence but a social assignment. Linguistically, this makes it unstable: the word functions less as a neutral identifier and more as a carrier of historical and cultural baggage, often generating confusion and contradiction.

Synonyms