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So I was reading the latest issue of The Atlantic, which had an article on transsexuals, and as I was reading it, something that had been bothering me for a while finally sort of crystallized. It's about gender identity. This thing where boys act one way, girls act the other way, this difference is set in your brain.
Basically the article went on about how boy-body-girls love the stereotypically feminine things - long hair, nails, makeup, skirts and other clothes meant to be pretty, high heels, dolls, pink - and reject stereotypically masculine things - trucks, action figures, playing rough, exploring, pants and other clothes meant to get worn out. Fine.
So... is it that boy-body-girls who aren't girlie girls don't exist, or are they just less uncomfortable being male? Is it possible to be, say, a boy-body-girl who is a tomboy, or at least not so drawn to girly things? It seems to me that this preference thing - girls, no matter the body, like only girly things and boys, no matter the body, like only boyish things - is just far too sharp. It's like tomboys and kids who are somewhere in the middle either don't exist or are actually transsexual. Or gay, that was mentioned too.
Let me TMI at you, Internet. I'm a girl. A woman, actually - at nineteen, I should really be using the proper word. Physically I'm a woman. I happen to see stupid traits in men and women alike. I happen to prefer men's clothing. I don't wear blouses, skirts, dresses at all, I can't stand makeup or heels, I love having short hair, I love the endurance and strength of my body. As a little girl I hated pink and resisted listing animals among my favorite things because that was "girly"; when I learned that actually, most girls don't care about animals, I gave in. I loved dinosaurs and was indifferent about dolls, and I'm not good with or very interested in kids. I barely ever played dress-up, and I resented and still resent the idea that I should be fanatically obsessed with how I look and what people think of me.
But I preferred and prefer the company of girls and women, I break down crying when bitches strike(admittedly I don't like to do it in public. It's a sign of weakness), I only very recently realized that I like action figures(more for the HEY I LOVE THIS CHARACTER and Oooh, it stands up and I can pose it! factors than anything else, though), I have no interest in sports or cars, my maternal impulse switches on when it comes to cats and baby animals, I am ridiculously shy and nonassertive, and I squee like whoa over Captain America(Partly because face it, he's attractive, partly because he is the best superhero ever, closely chased by Spider-Man. NO ARGUMENTS).
So that's a balance of male and female traits. I admit to being curious a lot about what it would be like to be a man. But my ideal (human) body is, well, androgynous. The masculine form of androgynous, the "handsome girl" kind with broad shoulders and big hands more than the "beautiful boy" androgynous with flowing hair and perfect skin. Is that aberrant somehow? What's with this assumption that you have to be at one extreme or the other? Why can't I just stick to not caring?
Basically the article went on about how boy-body-girls love the stereotypically feminine things - long hair, nails, makeup, skirts and other clothes meant to be pretty, high heels, dolls, pink - and reject stereotypically masculine things - trucks, action figures, playing rough, exploring, pants and other clothes meant to get worn out. Fine.
So... is it that boy-body-girls who aren't girlie girls don't exist, or are they just less uncomfortable being male? Is it possible to be, say, a boy-body-girl who is a tomboy, or at least not so drawn to girly things? It seems to me that this preference thing - girls, no matter the body, like only girly things and boys, no matter the body, like only boyish things - is just far too sharp. It's like tomboys and kids who are somewhere in the middle either don't exist or are actually transsexual. Or gay, that was mentioned too.
Let me TMI at you, Internet. I'm a girl. A woman, actually - at nineteen, I should really be using the proper word. Physically I'm a woman. I happen to see stupid traits in men and women alike. I happen to prefer men's clothing. I don't wear blouses, skirts, dresses at all, I can't stand makeup or heels, I love having short hair, I love the endurance and strength of my body. As a little girl I hated pink and resisted listing animals among my favorite things because that was "girly"; when I learned that actually, most girls don't care about animals, I gave in. I loved dinosaurs and was indifferent about dolls, and I'm not good with or very interested in kids. I barely ever played dress-up, and I resented and still resent the idea that I should be fanatically obsessed with how I look and what people think of me.
But I preferred and prefer the company of girls and women, I break down crying when bitches strike(admittedly I don't like to do it in public. It's a sign of weakness), I only very recently realized that I like action figures(more for the HEY I LOVE THIS CHARACTER and Oooh, it stands up and I can pose it! factors than anything else, though), I have no interest in sports or cars, my maternal impulse switches on when it comes to cats and baby animals, I am ridiculously shy and nonassertive, and I squee like whoa over Captain America(Partly because face it, he's attractive, partly because he is the best superhero ever, closely chased by Spider-Man. NO ARGUMENTS).
So that's a balance of male and female traits. I admit to being curious a lot about what it would be like to be a man. But my ideal (human) body is, well, androgynous. The masculine form of androgynous, the "handsome girl" kind with broad shoulders and big hands more than the "beautiful boy" androgynous with flowing hair and perfect skin. Is that aberrant somehow? What's with this assumption that you have to be at one extreme or the other? Why can't I just stick to not caring?
