Extra Credit

Álvaro Sosa

As a Méxican who was raised by women, my aunts. I can tell you that they made it clear that being a man was different than a woman. It got to a point in which I hated men and consequently myself. I could see men and find their flaws but there were not just any flaws. These were the flaws that directly damaged women such as alcoholism. I was never able to see the good things men did or to question why they did it until I was taken out of the positions of my aunts. That happened when I immigrated to the U.S.   

I had no father because he was killed when I was four years old and so this made me very susceptible to others and also because my mother left to the U.S. that same year to find a job to have the means to support her to children, my brother (the older one) and I. I remember to cry a lot. Every time that I was yell at by my aunts, I would just cry and say nothing. Then they would say "You are not a girl to be crying; Do not be gay;" (of course this was in Spanish). They would use more homophobic terms each time.

When my brother was yell at he would respond back and even if he was hit, he would lough instead of cry but because he would lough instead of cry they would hit him until he actually cried but the tears were not tears of pain but rather anger of not being able to hit back. Clearly there was something different among us. My brothers self-steam was demolish through beatings and mine through insults.

At the kitchen we were never encouraged to learn how to cook. We were never encourage to wash the clothing we used. Our cousins who were girls on the opposite were encourage to do all the above. Until this day, I still don't know how to cook even when I adore eating and live with roommates who don't cook either. It seems like there was something implanted or program to be this way. Certainly, If I were born a female under the same conditions very little of me (as male) would exist.

On Wednesday September 10, 2014, I interviewed an African American Fresno state student. The respondent said that his life would be different if he was born a female. The natural an obvious difference would be biological. His interaction with society would remain almost unchanged. His private life and closeness to his parents would not change either. He said that he was raised in the same manner as his sisters making it safe to say that the only main difference would be biological.

URL to access:http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/Alvaro/Alvaro-19164148360-20140911-1410398525.609.mp3