Previously published on InSights.
Article by Celia de Anca, IE Center for Diversity in Global Management.

In the second part of our International Women’s Day short reads, Celia de Anca analyzes what defines a “woman” and looks at how far we are from gender equality.

I’d like to start at the beginning.

What is a woman?

Let’s take a look at a definition from a Spanish etymological dictionary published in 1881, compiled by Roque Barcia, and from there, analyze what a woman was and what she is today, so as to glimpse what she will be tomorrow.

Woman: Rational creature of the female sex // the wife in relation to the husband. After a series of moralistic comments about how a woman should behave, Barcia ends with the expression: To be a woman, which means: when a girl has reached the state of menstruation.

In this definition we see the different, interrelated spheres that arise when we talk about women.

Keep on reading on https://www.ie.edu/insights/articles/do-women-exist/