What does it mean to be secure?

In class this week we tried to answer the questions, "What does it mean to be secure?" and "How should we think about defining security?". In my group we came up with a few things to describe security:
-Comfortable with self and surroundings
-Having power over a situation
-People of power are the ones providing security
We defined security by:
-Cultural norms
-Protecting rights and freedoms
-Variation cross-culturally
-Economics and power

When we combined as a class, we added to these answers. Being secure also means:
-Sameness
-Protection against unknown hypothetical threat
-Ability to meet basic needs
-Individual/collective sense of security
-Political, physical, mental, and emotional security

In class we got to talking about the way security is gendered and how men obtain security from their body while women obtain security from other people. Personally, I would have to agree with this because I feel much more secure when I am with other people that I trust than I do when I am alone. Part of the reason I came to Juniata was because I knew I would be able to feel secure here since it is small and you have the privilege of knowing most of your classmates and professors. I will probably never live alone just because I am too fearful of my security when I am alone. This feeling of insecurity of being alone is probably a result of feeling (and being) physically weaker than other people (men). On the brighter side, at least I know that I can take classes to better prepare myself for encountering an attacker. The field hockey team actually took one of these classes together last year and I hope to do so again so that I can feel more secure when I am alone.