The question that
comes up plenty of times through our discussion in class are to discuss when
exactly we knew that we were masculine or feminine. From my experiences and the
way that I grew up, there was never a question about it. As discussed in our
group, there were certain ages in our lives when our parents would
automatically go and sign us up for little league sports. I know in my
household when we were 6 we got signed up for little league football and YMCA
basketball. While we got signed up for football and basketball, my sister would
always get signed up for cheerleading. So there was no question about our
masculine and feminine sides because we went with what we knew since day one.
We also talked
about recess. When we went out to recess, the boys always went to play football
and do back flips and the girls went to do whatever girls did at that time. So when
the question comes up when I knew I was masculine or feminine, it goes back to
as far as I could remember.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI can totally agree with what you are saying. There is definitely some cases from when I was younger I remember my parents signing me up to play sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. While my younger sister was always signed up to participate in cheering or dance classes. I do remember one case where I definitely didn't want to participate in tumbling. My mother signed me and my brother up to do it along with my sister. If I remember correctly she said she wanted us to be more flexible and that it would help us when we player other sports. As a young kid, I remember being completely against it and always fighting with my mom about participating in it. I felt that it wasn't something that would be seen as masculine.
-Chris Lang
It definitely starts a very early age. As a boy everything you're giving is masculine, footballs, baseball bats, GI Joe's and from an early age you can already tell what is "supposed" to be for girls and what is for boys. I was signed up for baseball, basketball and soccer as child and although these leagues were open to both genders it seemed like the number of female players would drop each year I played. This was probably due to gender roles setting in and the creation of leagues for girls to compete against each other. I didn't have any sisters growing up but I imagine if I did, her youth sport experience would have differed from mine. That's not to say that my parents would've raised her differently but the inherent social stigmas of girls playing in sports normally designated for boys would probably have made it at the very least different.
ReplyDeleteMax Perry
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJay Clark
ReplyDeleteI agree that I never had a question about if I was masculine or feminine, ever since I was old enough to remember I have had a football or basketball in my hand. Back home being in football was big for guys and being on the dance team was big for girls. If your boy did not want to do football or your little girl did not want to dance there was usually very few other options. Basketball for both guys and girls was always a good back up but as a town basketball did not get as much attention for both girls and boys. Aside from signing up for sports at a young age, Halloween costumes have a great impact on what a child decides he or she is interested in. I think the first four or five Halloweens for me I was in either a Cleveland Browns uniform or a Buckeyes uniform. I would assume the same goes for girls and their interests.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying. I know from a young age my parents tried to get my sister involved in sports, but once she entered the fifth grade she just didn't have any interest in them anymore. She participated in cheerleading through middle school and junior high but that was basically the last of her playing sports.
I agree with what you said about recess, and being in your group I remember this discussion. I remember I would go out and play either soccer or football in the second grade, and all of the girls in my class would go out and swing our basically just stand around and talk with their friends. There were a few girls who would play with us, but we did not see it as being any different because they could compete with us at that age. Most of the girls stopped playing with us once fifth grade started just like my sister stopped playing sports as well.
-Brandon Focht
Tony,
ReplyDeleteIll have to agree with you on this subject. I too have never had to question growing up whether I was male or female and because of that I have a hard time understanding how people have to grow through the process of figuring that out. And I also I agree with everyone about the point of some of that figuring it out comes from parental help.
I do though think that a lot of kids who struggle with figuring out whether they are female or male have that parental help or someone showing them the way. However, through their eyes they don't see it and feel the same ways. And I can only imagine the confusion that builds inside of a child when someone is telling you you're suppose to be one way but inside you feel a whole other way.
Jude
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. At a very early age my parents began enrolling me in different sport programs. The first sports I played were boys and girls soccer, and tee ball in kindergarten. Then began playing basketball in fourth grade, and eventually track and football in jr. high and high school. One reason my parents stressed the importance of playing sports was because it teaches us to be tough. Sure, it’s possible to learn toughness outside of sports, but overcoming pain and learning the difference between getting hurt and injured, or learning how to be a winner OR a loser are some things that are hard to find outside of sports. Also, both of my sisters were always athletic and involved in sports, but my parents did not put as much emphasis on them participating in sport as they did on my brothers and I.
-Evan Sechler
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement that gender roles are easy to spot at a very early age. Even though I had girls on many of my teams when I was a child, I had the similar situation with my sisters as you did. My older sister only participated in cheerleading and my little sister only participates in soccer (which is largely considered a “girly” sport in my hometown) without hesitation because it is just what most the youth girls in my town do. I like your point about recess, because it made me realize that most of my life boys and girls were expected to like and participate in different things. I find it fascinating that gender roles for boys and girls being strictly different was so apparent at such a young age.
-Travis Kash
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI think that I had the ability to view masculinity and femininity in any way that I chose as I grew up. At a young age, I ended up playing with more feminine toys and such because I spent the majority of my time with my sister and female cousin. Now this was not a choice of mine necessarily, but it is what I grew up doing. My dad worked a lot so I didn’t have that strong male presence to steer me towards sports immediately. As I grew older, however, I began watching and playing sports with my dad and from that point on, I believe I fulfilled what society would define as the masculine role. I played football and baseball and never once considered playing with barbies or any other feminine toys after that point. It is a very good point on your part to state how much parental influence plays on gender roles.
Shaun Higgins