Never Again (Self-Sighting)

[BPFH]

I think I was almost 3 years old then, but as a girl, it was socially acceptable for my hair to be long.

I think there must be some kind of unwritten rule about "curly hair + blue eyes == girl", because that's what led to my son's first haircut, after we were asked how old "she" was.

(WTF, you say? Yeah, me too...)

[Kogarashi]

I think there must be some kind of unwritten rule about "curly hair + blue eyes == girl", because that's what led to my son's first haircut, after we were asked how old "she" was.

(WTF, you say? Yeah, me too...)

Well, I just think some people are clueless about gender and jump to conclusions, no matter how wrong they may be. When my oldest (daughter) was only about six months old, we were at a playground. I had her in a blue onesie with ducklings or something on it, and ruffly pants with a flower print. Flower print. I was pushing her in a swing, and a woman came up next to me and put her own (year-old?) daughter in the neighboring swing. This woman glanced over, saw my baby, and conversationally asked, "Oh, how old is he?"

"She's six months," I replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just she's wearing blue...." The woman's daughter was wearing just as much blue (perhaps in a more obviously "girly" style than my kid's outfit, but still). Lame excuse is lame.

[jedimaster91]

A friend of mine was fostering three siblings. A girl and two boys. The youngest (a boy) had the most gorgeous curls. We're talking Shirley Temple type curls here. And since I live in a parents' rights state, BioMom said no haircut, so no haircuts. Eventually the poor kid looked like a brillo pad, though when he sat still enough to have his hair pulled back into a ponytail, he looked remarkably like a young Antonio Bandaras. And yes, he was frequently mistaken for a girl, even while wearing obvious boy clothes. We knew when the BioParents had their rights terminated because the kid (now three years old by this point) got all his hair chopped off.

[AnaKhouri]

My oldest son had the same curls. beautiful long ones that everyone commented on. He was mistaken for a girl at least every other day (I didn't care, as it was all strangers and I would probably never see them again). We let it grow down past his shoulders before we cut it. It still has to be a little long (Beatles-long) because if you cut it short, it sticks straight up on top of his head. We only did that once!

Unfortunately Mal has just-kinda-wavy, thick, but finer hair and his was just looking stringy. I like long hair on little boys (and some big boys too...). He's getting a man bun from now on though.

[Minflick]

I once had DD#2 in red corduroy overalls (loved those clothes...) and a stripy t-shirt (because it color coordinated!). She had very short, new penny copper hair at the time, 18 mo. old or so. And some lady told me my little boy was cute. I replied "Thanks, but she's a girl!" (not nastily, I was pretty much worn out at correcting sex assumptions by then, and did it without fuss) At which the woman got shirty with me and lectured me on what the kid was wearing and I shouldn't be surprised at her confusion because I chose to put her in boy colors, blah, blah, blah. I replied, "Wow!", and stopped talking to her at all, ignored the rest of her blatherings.

Some people are just nuts. And that is how I learned to tell people they had a cute baby/child, without ANY gender reference involved.

[Seshat]

Red is boy colours now?

Eh, I don't care. Though it upset me when after my mother convinced me to let my hair get cut short, I got called a boy. I was in late primary school, so preteen. It upset me enough that I still remember it! heh.

[Kogarashi]

I didn't get mistaken for a boy until I was in my late teens, mostly because I had long hair until my senior year of high school. By that point, I was willing to see the humor in the situation. Plus there was the fact that I was fairly well-endowed, even as a teenager, so it was a truly laughable situation.

The very first, I'll give a pass to. I had just gotten my hair cut, and was with my mom at the store in a baggy t-shirt and sports jacket, so I understood completely when my mom used her discount card on her purchase, and then the cashier pointed at me and said, "for his purchase too?" I just started laughing, my mom started laughing, and the poor cashier blinked for a bit before getting a horrified look on her face and apologizing profusely for the misunderstanding. My mom and I both brushed it off in good humor.

The next was at school. It was Halloween, I was wearing a fitted blouse and long skirt with my dad's vampire cape as a costume. My locker neighbor, who I hadn't yet seen that year (they did things alphabetically or something instead of by grade level) showed up, glanced me over, and asked, "What are you supposed to be, some sort of drag queen?" I kind of squeaked, "Who, me?" and she responded, "Ohmygosh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were a boy!" In her defense, there were usually three boys in my grade alone who would routinely cross-dress for Halloween.

The most boggling was at university. I went to a school with a dress code that prohibited long hair on men without a specific religious reason, and it was usually pretty easy to identify people with that religion. I was working in an on-campus grill, and the uniform was a little loose but you could still see the outline of my chest. My hair was pulled back in a ponytail. I was cleaning something on the drink fountain when a woman came up behind me and asked some question (I don't remember what), addressing me as "Sir." At first I didn't realize she was talking to me, so I ignored her until she asked again a little more impatiently. I answered her question and she thanked me and left, without once realizing her mistake.

I'm sure there were one or two other incidents I'm forgetting, including at least one where I was mistaken for a guy over the phone (which is more understandable given I have a husky voice for a woman, to the point where I can comfortably sing tenor).

[TheCheerfulTreeRat]

I think there must be some kind of unwritten rule about "curly hair + blue eyes == girl", because that's what led to my son's first haircut, after we were asked how old "she" was.

Because we had my son when I was relatively old (and I haven't worn well anyway ) and my son was very pretty as a baby this used to be a fairly common exchange:
"You have a beautiful granddaughter"
"I have a beautiful son, thank you!"

[Seshat]

I'm sure there were one or two other incidents I'm forgetting, including at least one where I was mistaken for a guy over the phone (which is more understandable given I have a husky voice for a woman, to the point where I can comfortably sing tenor).

I have been Guiseppe Palmieri, baritone romantic lead of "The Gondoliers". I sing alto, and can sing quite low alto. Fortunately, Guiseppe rarely has to sing below A-below-middle-C, which is my lowest good note.
(Anna has more recently taught me how to sing soprano as well! Whoot, improved range.)

[Kogarashi]

I have been Guiseppe Palmieri, baritone romantic lead of "The Gondoliers". I sing alto, and can sing quite low alto. Fortunately, Guiseppe rarely has to sing below A-below-middle-C, which is my lowest good note.
(Anna has more recently taught me how to sing soprano as well! Whoot, improved range.)

My lowest good note is E-below-middle-C, with my lowest (barely) audible note a few steps past that. My highest is D- or E-above-high-C.

Improved range is always nice. My parents have a friend through church who is able to sing everywhere from high soprano all the way down to bass, with the exception of alto. She just can't seem to make herself hear the alto part and sing it properly.

[Seshat]

Cool - that's lower than my lowest good note.
Extending your range higher, try imagining the sound is coming from a location in the back of your nasal cavity: like the high C and high D are roughly coming from the very back of the roof of the mouth, and then higher notes originate from vibrations in the back of the sinuses.

It doesn't actually happen, but somehow for most singers, thinking that makes it easier to sing higher notes. Similarly, mid-range is the back of the mouth, and low range goes down the throat to the chest.

[wolfie]

Bit of trivia - among commonly-sung songs, the one requiring the widest vocal range is the "alternate lyrics" version of the old English drinking song "To Anacreon In Heaven".

[dalesys]

...(Anna has more recently taught me how to sing soprano as well! Whoot, improved range.)

Vice-Grips, the wonder tool!

[Kogarashi]

Thanks for the tips, Seshat. Overall, I'm pretty happy with my range. Helps that I have four younger sisters and we do like to sing together when we're all visiting our parents. Between the five of us, we've got high soprano, soprano, two alto-only, and then my alto/tenor, so we're covered for most songs.

Vice-Grips, the wonder tool!

*facepalm*

[Seshat]

That's an impressive collection.

I can just imagine the five of you doing 'Carol of the Bells' a capella, using one of the arrangements that makes it a canon.

Note for those who don't know music jargon: a canon is kind of like a very complex 'round'.
Imagine 'Row row row your boat', but instead of just two parts that are both the same but start at different points, there are five parts. Two of the parts have only some of the words, and are sung to harmonise with the main melody. One is the main melody and all the lyrics, sung normally. One is 'merrily merrily merrily merrily', sung very high and fast, so it's almost like bells in the background. The last is just the first line, sung low and steadily, like a heartbeat that sets the pace of the piece.
That would be a canon.

'Carol of the Bells' lends itself to very, very beautiful a capella canon arrangements.

Of course, there's always the Muppets' version.