Gender Socialization...for me

The most important influence on my ideas of femininity and masculinity is probably the media. My parents certainly didn’t avoid putting my brother and I into specific genders but they never really pushed my brother to play sports or force me to wear dresses. We had yellow rooms, not blue or pink, and we both played outside with soccer balls and we both played house. Growing up, I felt a lot like Baby X, but as soon as I hit elementary school I started understanding what was truly considered girly and what wasn’t. I was never “girly,” but magazines and television started giving me an idea of what to wear and how to do my makeup. My circle of friends also helped to develop my idea of femininity. They would talk about certain things or dress a certain way and I would follow suit. I also realized that people had viewed me as a tom-boy. Not that it was a bad title, but I certainly wanted to focus on being more feminine and attractive so boys would notice me. I noticed that boys liked girls who wore makeup and wore pretty clothes with certain hairstyles. Boys were definitely effective in helping me develop my femininity. I enjoy being feminine, but I have always enjoyed having boys as friends more than girls. Apparently it’s considered feminine to gossip and stab your friends in the back and I’ve never wanted to be a part of it. Perhaps a lot of things have had an influence on my femininity, but I like to think I chose which feminine attributes I present myself with.