Extra Credit Participation

Anna Allen

Growing up, I never really felt really pressured by my family to behave in one way or another.  My parents were all right with my playing with "boy toys" and "girl toys" alike when I was growing up; going through drive-thrus and ordering from the kids menu always ended in questions like "Anna, do you want a dragon or a My Little Pony today?" Playtimes were epic with Godzilla, Barbies, trucks, dinosaurs, unicorns, pirate ships, and horse-drawn carriages (one of my mom's favorite stories to tell is the one where our puppy chewed the arms off of Sleeping Beauty, and rather than being upset about the attack, I told my mother that "That's okay; it'll be more realistic when Godzilla eats it").  Playing "house" bored me to death.  I played sports with enthusiasm.  I exhilarated in riding horses.  I loved Pokemon (the show and the games), and was so happy when, in generation II's Crystal version, they introduced the option to be a girl.  When I was old enough, I worked at the ranch with my parents while I was going to school, with all the veterinary humor and dirty jobs included.  I dislike feeling dependent on things.  Being "quiet" is a struggle.  I took jazz and ballet classes.  My high school counselor was flummoxed when I chose to take weight training for my remaining PE credit, where I was one of only four girls in a class of thirty, and the only one of those girls who wasn't there solely to ogle our male classmates (by the girls' own admissions).  I have never been terribly understanding when someone says someone can't do something because "she's a girl." 

            If I was a boy, things could be very different.  Things could also be very similar.  There is a possibility that I would just become an Anna with no boobs and a penis, still pretty comfortable with all my likes and dislikes.  However, it might also be true that society would have more of a problem with a boy's playing with "girl toys" along with the "boy toys" and I would have grown up to be a timid, submissive young man, or even one that was much more aggressive and defensive about things.  Perhaps I would have grown to be a closed-minded person.  Even with my raising's being the same, there is a likelihood that I would have chosen different friends, and would have had a different socialization that way.  Maybe I wouldn't have been as lucky with these different friends as I've been with the ones I have now.  Or maybe I would have made similar friends, and I would continue to reside more toward the middle of the masculine/feminine social spectrum.  Perhaps I would still actively play sports.  I would likely have a different way of expressing my opinions—less expressive of emotions, but more assertive about my suggestions and opinions.  I would be much less concerned about going out by myself—I highly doubt that I would still feel the need to carry pepperspray on my person, or worry about someone spiking my drink at a party.  Perhaps I would have more slurs turned against me about being a sex-obsessed animal just because I was male.  I'd probably get fewer scholarships.  I'd likely be expected to drink more, especially whiskey and beer (my dad's and grandpa's favorites—grandpa still gives my dad grief about not liking gin, so I can only imagine what it would be if his grandson/dad's son disliked all those the way I do as their daughter/granddaughter).  However, I honestly believe that, if the main points in my life were the same, I would turn out to be more or less the same person.