When I was younger, though, my opinions were different. I remember the nursery rhymes we used to sing on the playground in second grade went something like:
"Girls go to college to get more knowledge,
boys go to jupiter to get more stupider.
Boys are rotten, made out of cottonGirls go to Mars to get more candy bars"
And this was the extent of my distinctions between boys and girls.
At the same time, I was extremely close to my brother and boy cousins and I loved playing sports
They made fun of girly stuff and dresses - so I would cry when my mom put me in dresses. I went through my tomboy phase, but then I decided to be my own person.
I played on sports teams with all boys for most of my childhood. I didn't really see much of a difference. We all liked to play and have fun, but when it came to the games, they always got put in first. I never really noticed, though, because that was just the way things were. Until my dad made a point of standing up for me, I never thought second of it.
Then, I started to question a lot of things. Why do we refer to God as a he? Why is it he and She, man and WOman? That's when I started making more distinctions between boys and girls.
However, from an early age my family also taught me not to make excuses and they held me to very high standards. So, though things may be harder for girls in the world sometimes - it starts with how your raised. My mom and dad got mad at me for singing that nursery rhyme. They said it was mean to boys. The same way my brother could not make fun of me for wearing dresses, when I finally started to wear them again.
It comes down to the ideologies you grow up with, the things that you start to believe before you even know what it means to have an ideology. Thus, the changes must extend to the youth.
However, from an early age my family also taught me not to make excuses and they held me to very high standards. So, though things may be harder for girls in the world sometimes - it starts with how your raised. My mom and dad got mad at me for singing that nursery rhyme. They said it was mean to boys. The same way my brother could not make fun of me for wearing dresses, when I finally started to wear them again.
It comes down to the ideologies you grow up with, the things that you start to believe before you even know what it means to have an ideology. Thus, the changes must extend to the youth.
sorry i dont know why the font is being so weird, i kept trying to fix it
ReplyDeleteHey Harleen!
ReplyDeleteReading about your transitional stage, it reminded me of what we talked about in class in terms of the somewhat Oedipus Complex. This might not be my area, but I kind of diagnosed your situation to what Professor Halberstam was talking about. I was thinking maybe your parents were analyzing your tomboy stage as a failure on their part to not require you to wear girly clothes and sing nursery songs. But your parents realized that they needed to just go with what YOUR heart desired. They allowed you to grow into the woman YOU were meant to be.
Just wanted to throw that out there! :)