Conflicts of a WomanSarah YoungKaplan UniversityS S260-06/ Gendered LivesJanuary 8, 2008I am a female, and have always identified with being female. Females are pretty, soft, and typically more sensitive than males. We are also potentially mothers and wives. It is in our nature to be more domestic than men. We are supposed to be more prone to nurturing than men.
This is the impression of a female that I grew up with. Even the text book offers a similar idea of what feminine is and what real women are supposed to be. The quoted other sources and came up with these ideas:?????¦To be feminine is to be physically attractive, deferential, emotionally expressive, nurturing, and concerned with people and relationships.
(Spence & Buckner, 2000.)?????¦Real women??? still look good, adore children, and care about homemaking??¦??? (Greenfield, 1997: Kerr, 1997, 1999). I??™ve grown accustomed to these ideas of what a woman is. I generally accept them. Part of what I see as woman isn??™t that simple. I have never wondered if I was anything other than a woman, but I don??™t identify with a lot of things women typically do.
I don??™t carry a purse. As far as I??™m concerned my Levi??™s have five pockets, why carry something I can lose I don??™t get my nails done. In fact, I??™ve had two professional manicures in my entire life.
I don??™t wear nail color and I??™ve never had acrylics. I don??™t follow any particular beauty regiment. I??™m not ??? girlish??? at all.
I always say that growing up my father raised me under the hood of his truck. I saw the way my mom was, she taught me to cook and clean, and do girl stuff. However, the majority of any parental time was with my dad.
I was his first born and did all of his chores around the house with him. Yard work, wood work, automotive repairs, fixing bikes, killing bugs, and catching scorpions are the things I remember most vividly about childhood. In school, I never did the sissy push-ups for girls. I was awarded the Presidential Physical Fitness Award.
My entire life I??™ve burped louder, road bikes faster, and have been just as physically apt or more than the boys. Then there??™s the physical make-up of myself. Yes, I??™ve got breasts, but my body is much more prone to muscle development than most women. Most women work out to keep their figure. I can??™t work out without growing a man??™s shape.
Without the gym, I have a woman??™s figure, but when I??™ve had any type of regular physical exercise, my brother and I could be mistaken from behind. I have to use men??™s deodorant. Women??™s deodorant doesn??™t properly curb my perspiration. I??™m hairy too.
I have to wax my mustache, and trim my nose hairs. My leg hair grows much faster than other women I know. For the most part of just gotten used to the fact that I get along better with the boys, I relate to them on levels of friendship. I??™ve come to a point that I??™ve realized I am better suited with a woman as my domestic partner too.
I find that a woman compliments me better. I believe that two people should make a whole when they date, marry, and build lives together. I am capable of that with a woman, but it doesn??™t happen so well with men. I appeal too closely as a friend. For some reason men don??™t get past that and treat me with that same concern I would treat a woman. Maybe, it??™s because I behave differently than most woman. Either way, I am dating a woman that completes me. References: Spence, J.
, & Buckner, C. (2000). Instrumental and expressive traits, trait stereotypes and sexist attitudes: What do they signify Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 44-62. Greenfield, L.
(1997). Fast forward: Growing up in the shadow of Hollywood. New York: Knopf. Kerr, B. (1997). Smart girls: A new psychology of girls, women, and giftedness. Scottsdale, AZ: Gifted Psychology Press. Kerr, B.
(1999, March 5). When dreams differ: Male-female relations on campuses. The Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. B6-B8. Wood, J. (2007). Gendered Lives. Canada: Thomas Wadsworth
