What is Womanhood?
Womanhood refers to a woman’s entry into adulthood. It pertains to the period after a female undergoes puberty which typically starts at around 10 years of age and ends at 18. In most countries and cultures, when a female person reaches the age of 18, she is said to have become a woman or has already come of age.

In many cultures and groups of people in the past, an adult woman has certain roles for the family and the society in general. In prehistoric times, women were tasked to gather plant food while the adult males were in-charge with hunting activities. Though some women also were able to do some hunting for smaller animals like fish and birds, the task of hunting down larger animals are expected upon men which are deemed as physically stronger. And if women were not gathering food, they are usually left at home to take care of the home and the family. Even in societies of the past, women already had domestic roles in taking care of family concerns like cooking and cleaning.

But the roles of adult women evolved over time. Some women were able to join the workforce and were employed for a variety of jobs. But everything started with some discrimination to women joining companies and industries. Most women were paid less doing the same task as men and most women also experienced some job restrictions as other functions are created only for male workers. And since women were traditionally relegated to domestic duties, most women in the past also were not able to acquire a good amount of education, which further disadvantaged most of them in terms of jobs they could acquire later in life.

But in recent history, womanhood or the adult stage of being a female is now perceived as a time for females to be a productive part of the society. Most, if not all, women today have equal rights and opportunities with men. And in most countries, by the time a female reaches womanhood, they also acquire certain “legal” rights in several aspects of life. It is at the stage of womanhood that a female person is considered free to do what she wants without many restrictions.