Woman

There are certain lessons women are forced to learn from a very young age, and many of them involve safeguarding ourselves against the dangers life poses us. We're told we must be careful about how we present our bodies and how we act in public. We're warned not to speak to strange men and told they're only looking for one thing, but then are demonized for expressing caution about talking to those same men because to do so would be misandry.

Being a woman is incredibly confusing because we are sexually attracted to beings that could so easily do irreparable physical harm to us. We dreamt about our Prince Charming as little girls. It always felt so safe imagining ourselves with a man until puberty when almost overnight the biggest threat to a woman is the men surrounding her.

"The courage it takes for a woman to say yes [to a date with a man] is beyond anything I can imagine. A woman saying yes to a date with a man is literally insane, and ill-advised. How do women still go out with guys, when you consider the fact that there is no greater threat to women than men? We’re the number-one threat! To women! Globally and historically, we’re the number-one cause of injury and mayhem to women. We’re the worst thing that ever happens to them!" - Louis C.K.

Women are aware that men are bigger, faster, and stronger than them and generally have the upper hand. Whether we are at a bar or a club, at school or work, on the street or subway, we feel men's eyes on us and the sexual subtext behind it. The combination of men's physical strength and sexual desires is unnerving and frankly, intimidating. However, I want to make clear that vulnerability does not equal weakness. Women hold the key to humanity and that's the greatest power of them all.

Side note: if you like women only spaces, you'll love The Wing, a new female-only members club in New York founded by Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan.