I'm taking a sociology class and at the moment we are discussing race and ethnicity. I believe we are about to begin a section on sex. The professor posed this question to the class via e-mail today as an assignment and it made me think. I'm just wondering what your responses are: "Was their ever a time when your gender was problematic or an obstacle for you? Tell us about it. Also, discuss a time when your gender was an advantage. Here is an example from my life. I have a set of twins, a boy and a girl. My son was always the more sensitive of the two. He stuck very close to me when he was young, he didnt like to play the rough games that other little boys were playing, he cried when Bambie's mother died in the film and as a teen, when with he was with his friends he refused to make derogatory remarks about women. When he was young he was often called a sissy, sometimes he was called worse. These behaviors of course were never expected of his twin sister. In my son's case, his gender, the social behaviors expected of someone of a particular sex was a real obstacle to overcome. How he was expected to act as a "boy" was counter to what he felt and what he had been taught. Regarding my daughter, she has often found her gender to be a real asset. Twice when pulled over by cops for speeding she batted her eyelashes, flashed" her smile and they let her go with just a warning! " That was my professors response. I haven't written my own yet but I will respond when I get to it. I'm not sure if this matters but since it's a soc class I want to make the comment that the teacher writing this is a "black female who is mixed with Jamaican (mother) and White British (father)". However, she identifies as a black female. X-posted
