I never realized how strongly I wanted to feel "like myself" until my left knee went bad and I gained a lot of weight. I did not feel like myself until I had knee surgery and lost the weight. I do believe my "self" is more than my body, but my body is clearly a part of it.
And of course, our “self” changes over the course of our lives. Personally, I have seldom attached a gendered label to my sense of self. Did pregnancy make me feel more "female”? Absolutely. More "feminine”? Not at all. That g-word is expected to do a whole lot of work.
Thank you for the smile, Emily!
I never realized how strongly I wanted to feel "like myself" until my left knee went bad and I gained a lot of weight. I did not feel like myself until I had knee surgery and lost the weight. I do believe my "self" is more than my body, but my body is clearly a part of it.
And of course, our “self” changes over the course of our lives. Personally, I have seldom attached a gendered label to my sense of self. Did pregnancy make me feel more "female”? Absolutely. More "feminine”? Not at all. That g-word is expected to do a whole lot of work.