Gender identification, expression, and stratification.
Another update that isn't necessarily about my life! And a public one too. It's one of those pensive entries where your thoughts on the subject would be even more valued than usual (which is already a lot on its own
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I was something of an odd little girl, I had the little tea parties, teddy bears and played nurse and waitress but then I was also mad about dirt and playing with worms, snails and bugs (it earned me the nickname Bugs which my mum still calls me to this day!), I loved digging in the garden, I always played with my 3 male cousins, my parents usually dressed me in colours like purple and red, not a lot of pinks, lots of whites. I also was a huge nerd, I used to love watching star trek with my dad, I think my parents just let me be and whatever happened that was okay with them. My mum is a HUGE tomboy so I think they didn't really mind whether I was super girly or more of a tomboy, my mum certainly has never been very girly.
My male cousins also broke the mould quite a bit when we were young, I remember countless times when they asked to play with my makeup and we would dress up and they'd wear my lipstick and eyeshadow and my grandmas shoes, I think their dad was a bit put out by it but hell, it never stopped us! We were always together and they would play with my barbies (I didn't have many, but I had a few), my toys as much as I played with their walkie talkies and buzz lightyear.
It makes me so sad to see how entrenched gender roles still are, and how much hatred and upset they cause when it's so unnecessary. I hope that when I have children I can raise them how I was, not to worry about it and just be whoever they really want to be.
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You sound like my type of girl. I always notice that females who have two or three older brothers are the ones that typically aren't afraid to get a little dirty, and are always either competitive or unafraid of things later in life. Not saying that you need the male influence for that, but it's a pattern I've noticed.
It's interesting that your mom herself was a tomboy, and that she never really forced on you not to be a girly-girl. LOL @ your cousins playing dress-up, I LOVE children like that! I played with Barbies like, three times in my life, and I absolutely loved it. It was one at my mom's friend's house, and she saw me and threatened (playfully) to tell my mom, which I begged her not to. She did, and my mom asked me about it... yet I denied like crazy. It's kind of sad that most kids (guys particularly) wouldn't be able to transcend their playful activities to what was meant for the opposite sex without a huge problem occurring.
I hope to raise my children that way too. It's ridiculous how people seem as if though they're DESTINED to be limited because they don't have the intuition to look past what society makes of them... all of this is just a social construct that you can live past. And if other people have a problem with it, may the fuck themselves. Amen.
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