I've been wanting a motorcycle for a while now but lately I've been thinking of actually going out and getting one. This will be my first motorcycle experience ever. How does this work? Do you take classes, take a test, get a permit, buy a bike? Which comes first? What are the steps to being able to ride one on the street? I'm living in NJ in USA, for reference.
Also what would be a good starting bike? I'm female, 5'4", and around 125 pounds.

from personal experience (living in usa) its best to buy a small 2 stroke motorcycle and just learn everything on that. Its too slow to kill you and just fast enough to have fun for a beginner. After you are confident you can start working on slow speed handling and higher speed handling stuff like counter steering etc.

TLDR; get a crap bike to learn on, take test for license, sell old bike for better one, be awesome. Also never ride without gear, don't be retarded you can get a nice jacket and helmet for like $100 on craigslist these days, and if you're not willing to chip in the cash for that don't bother buying a bike.