Nick Nakashian
Soc 131
Extra Credit Response
Masculinity is a gender that is defined by many physical and active qualities. To be considered masculine entails being able to perform many physical and visible traits. Men are strong, confident, demanding and good with their hands; at least these are some of the qualities that are thought of as masculine. Men who do not posses most of these qualities may be thought of as not as masculine as their peers
For example I am terrible at working with tools and fixing things, where as my dad is one of those who can fix anything and likes to do everything himself. So because I am not as good with mechanical projects as my dad, male social rules make me seem inferior to him, that he is more of a man than I am. This has made me try to be more masculine in other areas of my life, to be more athletic or self-driven and achieve higher in school. However if I were born female I don't believe that many of the things in my life would change because I am involved in a lot of things that I believe are gender neutral. For example I am an art history major, and this is a field that is not dominated by either sex. I have had just as many female art professors as I have had males; I have read just as many textbooks written by males with doctorates, as I have read from females with doctorates. Also I used to be a competitive swimmer and this is a sport that is just as popular with men as it is women. We swim the same events; the same practices and even share lanes together.
In my interview, my interviewee had similar feelings to if she had been born male, in regards to being involved with things that are more general neutral. Majoring in sociology, my interviewee believes she would still be interested in this area of study if she were a man, because it was a man, her boyfriend also a sociology major, who sparked her interest in the subject. Also she currently works with special needs children, a career that is dominated by females, however my interviewee feels she could have still been involved in this area because again it was due to the influence of a man in the field that sparked her interest. Being one of three daughters, my interviewee tried do share as many activates with her dad as one girl can; the only thing she feels would have changed in her life, had she been born a male is that she would have been different experiences she could have shared with her father.
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