Extra Credit

Kayla Forte

Gender is a very interesting concept.  It makes life complicated in some ways and simplifies it in others. As a female, I grew up with a kind of tom-boy attitude. My mom made me play every sport because she said I wouldn't know what I liked unless I tried it. As a young child I played t-ball and soccer. As I reached about eight years old I started to play basketball. As I aged, my taste in sports changed and now I am a soccer player and a dancer. I tried everything from cheerleading to flag football. When I was five my mom married my step dad and I gained an older brother. I always wanted to hang out with him and his guy friends. When I was 7, my mom had my little sister, things changed then. I always wanted to play with her with barbies and dolls and make up and play dress up. I never felt pressured by either of my parent to act or behave a certain way; they just wanted me to be happy. Now that I am older and on my own, my parents worry about me even more because I'm their little girl. I have noticed things like they let my brother go out all the time but are stricter when it comes to me. They think because he is a male that he can protect himself better and he is less likely to be a victim of a crime.

When I talked to my interview partner, she had the same views as me. She had grown up wanting to go into the army, but she felt that she didn't have the image because she was a female. She changed her dreams because of this image that we have made of females going into the army. She had grown up with two brothers and one sister, however; she has always gotten along with her brothers more than her sister. She has a daughter of her own and she says that if she had a son she would see how things would be different in how she raised them. She also believes that being a female in her major, which is sociology, makes it more challenging for her. She sees that more men are working in her field and that is why she went back to school so she can better her chances of making it in her career.

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