Woman

A woman is an adult, female human. When people talk about women, they may be using the word in terms of sex, gender roles, or both.

In terms of sex, women have primary and secondary sexual characteristics that differentiate them from men, including:

on average, lower height than men
wider in hips than in shoulders
enlarged breasts
vagina
less facial hair

There are more men on birth than women (ratio typically 1.05, but in some parts of India which practices selective abortions this ratio reaches 1.2). However, women live longer and there are more than 50% of females in human population.

After the onset of menarche, most women are able to become pregnant and bear children, which is the subject of obstetrics. The study of female reproduction and reproductive organs is called gynecology. Women generally reach menopause in their late 40s or early 50s, at which point they can no longer become pregnant.

The gender roles ascribed to women by society often differ from those assigned to men over a wide range of behaviours. In modern western society, more women than men wear clothing such as dresses, skirts, and high heels, while more men than women wear jockey shorts, pants, and cufflinks. Women are more likely to make use of plastic surgery and cosmetics, while men are more likely to have hair transplants. Women tend to cut their hair longer, and are more likely to dye it. Young women who try too hard to be in the center of attention in this way often suffer from the histrionic personality disorder. The gender roles of men and women in society changed dramatically after the sexual revolution. Current gender roles are criticised by both the feminism movement and the masculism movement.

In non-western societies women have a mostly secondary role. Violence against women is increasing in many parts of the world. So is the human traficking, also known as white slave trade. Women are often victims of domestic violence, beaten by their husbands and partners. However, women are also the ones who abuse - males are also victims of domestic violence, but to a lesser extent. The most serious cases of domestic violence by women is abuse by mothers who molest their children.

Abortion is a highly contraversial issue in women rights. In most European countries and in the US it is legal. Some countries, like Canada, Italy, Britain and Australia have infanticide laws allowing mother to kill children less than one year old if a balance of her mind was disturbed by childbirth. Some of these laws allow the mother to kill all her children, providing that one child hasn't yet celebrated a first birthday. The killer need then only show that the "balance of her mind was disturbed" by childbirth and having a baby in the house, and she cannot be charged with murder under these laws.

More women than men suffer from Sjögren's syndrome, scleroderma and breast cancer. Women never get prostate cancer, but 1% of breast cancers occur in men. In US only 22% of women have normal weight, as opposed to 47% of males - in other parts of the world this discrepancy is not that pronounced.

The general study of women at universities is pursued under the heading "women's studies." Presently that study is closely associated with feminism, sometimes even radical feminism. The study of the social and economic differences between the sexes is also closely related.