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| Feminine Me 2003, March 27 - 6:04 p.m.
Before reading this, read this from Keryanna. It's so intelligent and thoughtful. But on to today... One thing that I have never been able to answer for myself is this: why am I feminine? Femininity has been defined for me by my mother, my female peers, the media, teachers, everyone. I often wonder if I�ve been taught to be feminine or if I just am that way because I�m female. For example, I love when I�m dressed up, my hair is done, I have make-up on and I�m looking pretty. This is a feminine thing. Could I really have been taught to like these things? When I was a little girl, I loved playing house, dress up, and dolls. Could I have been taught to love playing these things? It makes me wonder. You see I was always encouraged to do well in math. I was praised a lot for studying; I was praised for getting good grades. All of the positive re-enforcement certainly didn�t make me want to do it. To this day I hate math. On the flip side, my mother painted my bedroom walls yellow, like my brother�s room. I was given a lot of pants to wear as a kid, I was enrolled in softball, and my mother always told me that there are no boy toys and girl toys. Yet, playing with dolls made me very happy. I think a lot of it though, may have come from other girls. If all the other girls are playing house, then it�s social and fun and a little girl can feel accepted. Is that it? The happy feelings and fun comes from the association of playing with peers in these surroundings? That could well be it. But then, when I think of it, that still leaves room for a mother�s role. I�m not as feminine now, per say. I�m a lot like my mother. I also don�t feel like I have to be anything particular if I don�t want to be. So I guess my view on the matter is that little girls set the standard for other girl�s behavior. A mother�s influence and example wields more long-term results. I wonder: if I had never been exposed to little girls or dolls in my earliest years, would I have found them fun in my later childhood? Thank You - 2006, June 7
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