How I Am A Girl

“Not exactly,” she replied, unable to meet Toms gaze, “You can wear shoes but your trainers don’t conform to the requirements for the guys here.”

As a child a lot was expected of me being the only girl. My mother in particular

Throughout history young girls and women were limited on what they could and couldn’t do. Society had put more pressure on them than men and they had to act a certain way in public and in their homes. Females were the underprivileged gender and were greatly affected by the gender roles occurring in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and were taught at a young age these rules and expectations. Gender roles had limited women in the past from being more than a perfect wife and homemaker, fitting the generation's beauty expectations, unable to dress freely due to the school dress code, to use proper etiquette to please everyone but themselves, and to work the same job as a man and get paid a lower wage.

I was six years old, dressed in pink, dreaming of one day when I would become a princess. That day never came. Little did I know what being a girl would entail in the future. Soon I would be thirteen, putting on a cake-face of makeup and new clothes that my mom barely approved of so I could get the attention of the boy that sat next to me in math class. Then I turned eighteen and still had to look my best when I was trying to get into a sorority at Michigan State University. I wanted to be six again. I wanted my mom to dress me, do my hair, and have nothing to worry about. Being a girl is and always will be hard.

My very traditional parents developed a very gender-biased way of thinking as they were growing up, so they incorporated those ideas while raising my brother and I. They believed only certain genders should be doing certain things. Because of their views, my brother was treated differently than I was. My brother was always pushed to be the man of the house and to be served, while I was put to work and studying. By the time I was in second grade, I was doing household chores, translating for my parents, and doing homework from both chinese school and american school as for my brother, he was able to hang with girls and play sports. My parents never allowed me to complain

“You’re weird, that is why you have no friends, only boys are allowed to like that stuff. You should be more feminine, you have to stop catching things or you’ll end up with no husband and all alone. You need to stop dressing in ‘ragedy’ t-shirts and jeans.”

I am the oldest out of two daughters. I have a mother, father and a sister. Everything I do it practically being mimicked by my sister. I guess I am the role model in the family or test subject as you will, for everything. For the weight of this responsibility lands on me as a sack of bricks. Everything my mom buys is girly or feminine like nail polish and skirts. No basketballs or sports equipment, no sign up sheets for sports teams, no boy stuff anywhere. The only males in the family are my dad and my dog.

The master, ascribed status associated with being a woman has countless affects on my experiences and how it has designed my life. Everything I do is with the mindset of a woman, whether it is how I dress or how I speak. From the time when I was young, I was the first female child within my generation. Even at the age of five, I recall countless times where I had to prove I could “hang with the boys.” This sort of initiation occurred in countless ways from doing gross dares to having to show I can take a punch—literally. Enduring all this mayhem only seemed natural because I did not want to be seen or treated differently from the boys. Time passed and my woman-ness became even more prevalent as boys were able to get away with things that I could not. “Close your legs,” “girls do not play with toy guns,” “Put down the Gameboy, go play with

As a biological female, in more ways than not, I tend to follow the expected roles of a traditional women. Associated with the role of a female are certain personality traits, behaviors, appearances, and occupations. Females are seens as gentle, emotional, nurturing, soft-spoken, cooperative, and dependent. Females are expected to be “pretty” by using makeup, skincare, and haircare products. Longer hair is seen as feminine, as well as, the color pink. In addition, women are expected to pursue careers as teachers, nurses, social workers, and secretaries because these careers required traits and characteristics which are associated with “female.” I view myself as a gentle person, but I am also a strong and relentless soccer and rugby player.

“But you're a girl! Even if you are older, girls shouldn't look at things like that, either.”

As soon as a girl child is born, she is socialized into being caring and loving personality and given doll houses to play with; in short she is being trained to become a good home maker as soon as she realizes the gender difference. She is referred to as “a pretty girl” rather than “a tough girl.” The reference is still the same in the society that I was brought up in. The process of socialization and cultural indoctrination is not much different than during the times of my mother. However, the difference lies in the fact that we are no more trained to but are psychologically influenced to rank household chores before career. Despite the changing role of women in a

In short, that means one will be expected to follow a certain guideline, a list of actions and behaviors, depending on their gender (Health Guidance). As our society becomes more advanced, and people are becoming more open toward ...other people who are different, sexism is one of the major no-no. It has rooted deep in our mind, passed down from our grandfather and their grandfathers before them, the belief that view women as merely a housewife, and that is it. A housewife that will do everything in her ability to please her man who will take care of her, and the family. A housewife that is supposed to do all the chores around the house while the husband had a night out of pokers and beer. A boy from such a household will grow up learning to objectify women as not another human being, but just an expensive maid; while men roam free and rule the world. Of course, one could not talk about the negative effects of media, which resulted in increased sexism through stereotyping without including examples from the media. Movies, plays, sitcoms (though more or less satirical), dramas, and especially the media (books, newspaper, and television) all contributed in stereotype women. Another personal experience, and as I was not

If you tell me I can’t do something because I am a girl, there is a good chance that your discouraging remark will only encourage me to do what you have told me not to do. From kindergarten to college, I have consistently challenged beliefs that girls are not as valuable or as good as boys. I have not done this for recognition, but for the personal satisfaction of knowing that I have helped the advancement of girls and women in some way.

1.The earliest memory I had of understanding the particular behaviors of a girl was when I could understand the meaning of words. I learned my feminine behaviors of how to be a girl by observation. I watched TV and observed all the women and men around me. I can say I wasn 't pursued to be one way or the other. As I grow up, I wanted to wear fewer dresses and more shorts. I inspired to accomplish daredevil acts that boys did, play football, and basketball. I was labeled as an tomboy by my friends. I wished for nice tennis shoes, not sandals. At that time, I didn’t think about my sexual orientation as a child. I just wasn 't interesting in playing with dolls like an abundance of little girls I encountered.

Our girls are getting the message that boys are better capable of handling different tasks, and therefore, need to be trained by giving them more responsibilities. I bet that Madeline Alberight or Dr. Elizabeth Verba did not accept this philosophy in life. Such methods of thinking reduces a girls self esteem and decreases her chances of getting a higher education and fulfilling goals of becoming world leaders, scientists, inventors, educators or even good mothers.