I feel like a woman

I had a birthday a few months ago: I turned 26. Just over those last couple of months, I've finally become comfortable with calling myself a 'woman'. Until now, I didn't feel mature enough to qualify for that label. Why it would take almost half a decade of being married and running an independent household I don't know; it seems like I should have been calling myself a woman years ago.

I shared this experience with my partner recently, and he congratulated me on being a liberated chick. The 50-year-old secretary at his office still calls herself a 'girl'.