Now on the Other Foot

[AnaKhouri]

That's the thing, I am a straight female (well, as straight as we come; I have a theory that all women are 3 drinks away from being lesbians). Sometimes I wear Hello Kitty and pink shoes, sometimes black concert t-shirts and jeans. Sometimes I listen to Shakira, sometimes Opeth. It depends on my mood. No one fits into a little box. No one.

I always hate romantic comedies, though.

[cashierbex]

Eh, before I did a total makeover of my "style", I was always a tomboy. Little by little I started getting comfortable with the idea of "Who cares of what others think?" My dad hated it. Always wanted me to be a princess. Thats not me. Once I moved out, I changed. I'm happy with the change.

[MystyGlyttyr]

I have some sort of...opposite problem. For the most part I'm really into "masculine" pursuits...wrestling, chef work, rolling in the dirt, cussing and violence, video games, heavy metal, etc., etc. Nearly all my friends are guys...and they're all baffled by my wanting everything in pink, ruffles, glitter, etc. My bedroom GLOWS pink, save for the wrestling posters and pictures of Gordon Freeman (saving up for a Brutal Legend poster yay). I even have one of those pink girly tool kits and I LOVE it. My dad's always having to borrow my stuff from it because he loses his, and I take care of mine. Not to mention in culinary school the bemused looks from my teachers when I insisted on putting edible flowers on everything or cutting pretty shapes out of stuff or making hot pink cupcakes for sale.

"Why do you like this stuff? You're so...not girly."

"Yes I am. I'm just the kind of girly who'll kick your ass if you mess up my glitter shoes."

It's all in what you like. When I'm in the gym outlifting some dude, it's funnier if he gets a whiff of my Wanna Play perfume when I go by than if I smell like wet dog. (Only a whiff, my mother taught me how to properly apply perfume. JUST A LITTLE.)

[dragon_wings]

"Why do you like this stuff? You're so...not girly."

"Yes I am. I'm just the kind of girly who'll kick your ass if you mess up my glitter shoes."

I love this. Mind of I use it for a sig?

I'm a hardcore tomboy myself. I love being androgynous. I wear gender neutral clothes (I do have some tight tshirts but I have some loose ones too), hate pink (green and purple are my favorite colors), choose comfort over fashion, wear my hair short (it's usually shaggy), dye my bangs purple that eventually fades to pink, paint my nails black or green, and love wear earrings (just got two more holes on each ear bring my total piercings to 6).

[dalesys]

OT: Does anyone else read the thread title and think: "And on the gripping foot..."?

[EricKei]

I'm a guy who is rather...Dilberteqsue...in shape ~_~ I do actually use 'shower-to-shower' or whatever...Mainly because, in my climate, walking outside makes you sweat 9 months out of the year, no matter what shape you're in. I'd rather smell a bit like talcum or generic scent du jour than sweat Antiperspirant is mandatory, too >_>

So, since the person buttoning the woman's dress would be coming at it from a different angle, the buttons would need to be on the other side.

Fair enough, that makes a lot of sense -- but what about the "left handed" buttons on the FRONTS of garments? That's actually what I was thinking of.

"Yes I am. I'm just the kind of girly who'll kick your ass if you mess up my glitter shoes."

Pure, unadulterated Awesome ^_^

[Jester]

This gender bias bullshit again. Look, when people come to grips with the idea that it is 2012 and not all guys like "guy stuff" and not all girls like "girl stuff," and frankly, a lot of us like stuff from both areas.

For example, I cook. I love cooking, and damn it, I am pretty freakin' good at it. Doesn't make me any less straight or any less of a guy. I am still a football nut, drink beer, burp, fart, and like movies where a lot of shit gets blown up. But I am dangerous in Bed Bath and Beyond, because I always want to buy more stuff for my kitchen. I don't see any contradiction here. Nor do I see any contradiction with my stepsister, who knows her way around a car far better than I do, and can probably strip down an engine, whereas I can barely change a tire on my own. She also likes football and beer. Doesn't make her any less of a girl...she still likes a lot of "girly" stuff.

I am amused by all the people who can't find men's deodorant that doesn't stink. Not all of it is Axe. I use Mennen Speed Stick, which comes in all kinds of scents, but I always get the Regular, which is unscented, and it works just fine. Might have a slight whiff of talcum powder to it, but nothing obnoxious. I don't wear cologne, I don't need to wear cologne, and I don't need my deodorant smelling like cologne.

I don't use women's razors for the very simple reasons that I am not a girl, I am not shaving my legs, and frankly, I don't like pink. It's not that whole "pink is for girls or gay guys" nonsense. I just don't care for the color. Not that I wouldn't use a woman's razor in a pinch--I would, as whatever the color the base is, the razor blade is still a razor blade, and it still cuts hair.

Back to pink....don't really like green or yellow either, so don't wear those colors any more than I wear pink...which is pretty much none. Other than one very dark pink shirt I have from my days at the college radio station, but that is a Cool Ass Shirt, so I can forgive it its color.
I am very amused by the gender bias with kids. My 7 year old niece Bear is generally a typical girly girl type, loving purses and pink this and that and ruffles, etc. However...recently, when I was heading out to Arizona to visit, I picked her up a gift at the toy shop I do magic at. I got her a little remote controlled truck. To which my female coworker said, "But that's a boy's toy!" To which I asked, "In what way?" See, as girly as Bear is normally, she LOVES cars. And, not surprisingly, she ADORED the remote controlled one I got her. Followed it all around, and simply loved it. And this is a boy's toy....how?

I wear men's shoes at work because of the lack of women's work boots.

My little sister and her decades-long obsession with Doc Marten's would like to respectfully disagree with you.

[blas]

I wear men's deoderant a lot during the summer.

I don't really like smelling manly, but girl's deoderant, even the supposed "prescription strength" stuff, just cannot compete with high humidity and a girl that walks 12 miles on the weekend and loves to lift weights.

[MystyGlyttyr]

@Dragon Wings: Feel free

@blas Agreed. I have yet to meet a girly deodorant that can keep up with me. Plus Speedstick has a flavor that smells just like Irish Spring soap. How awesome is that!

@Jester It's amusing to me...all the while in culinary school, having to discuss the weirdness that "cooking" is women's work, while "chef-ing" is men's work. (My professor telling us this freely said that it was dumb as hell, but that was the way so many of the old school saw it...that women could be "cooks" but never "chefs" and we girls would have to be aware of that bias. Funny enough, my class started out being 3:1 in favor of guys and ended up dead even with six of each...so who could handle and who couldn't? )

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I always hate romantic comedies, though.

Gag me with a spoon!

I'm a female, and yes I do love pink (it's my signature color) I much prefer a good action film with a good storyline.

My favorite shows are action-oriented. I don't have a favorite actress, but I do have 2 favorite actors.

Don't look for me in a dress . . . don't have the legs (unless by some miracle I wake up one morning and I have ankles.) I'm much more comfy in a pair of wide legged blue jeans and a dressy blouse or sweater. Now if I really want to dress up, there's always dress slacks and heels with a nice blazer.

I love my electronic gizmos . . . new and older stuff too. I've got a laptop almost a year old and still have a 30 year old electric typewriter. Have a flatscreen tv but also like to watch the VHS tapes on occasion.

Yes, I like my nails and my makeup and my hair fixed up when I leave the house (and don't forget the perfume), but at the same time I've got no problem hanging out on my day off in my baggy sweatshirt and fleece pajama bottoms (just don't expect me to leave the house with them on.)

It just depends on my mood. And that mood is ME.

[Buglady]

My personal favourite are the "women's tool kits". Ok, I will give you, I have small hands, I wouldn't mind a full set of good tools with slightly smaller/slimmer handles. But I refuse to believe that as a woman, I'm not capable of hammering a nail or removing a screw unless the handle of said tool is covered in lilacs or bright pink foam. Honest, people, the screws & nails don't notice, and the cats laugh hysterically.

There's the size aspect, but I once seriously considered buying one of those kits just so my idiot boyfriend would stop stealing and losing MY TOOLS. (And that was just household repair stuff; now I'm training to be a bike mechanic and am starting to collect professional-grade tools... )

Then I just got rid of the boyfriend instead. Much cheaper

As for gender roles and stereotypes... I just don't have time for that crap anymore. I notice, and fight it, for the sake of the Girl Guides I mentor and for my niece and nephew, but anyone trying to tell ME I should or shouldn't do something based on how "feminine" it is tends to regret it immediately. (Another boyfriend made that mistake. He will not do so again).

[Buglady]

By the way, a terrific resource for the parents/uncles/aunties is www.pigtailpals.com - fantastic kids clothing that doesn't enforce gender roles, and a thought-provoking blog. I'm not affiliated, I just follow it on Facebook and like the clothes (have to save up a bit of extra $ to buy some for Niece and Nephew!)

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I mean I've used womens' shaving gel and womens' deodorant and I didn't suddenly sprout breasts. So I didn't personally see where the daughter was in the wrong for her choices.

Neither do I. Having skin on my face that really does not like having a chunk of metal scraping the living hell out of it I find that the best shaving gel for me is the "targeted to women" Skintimate shaving gel.

<peers down shirt> Nope! No boobs for me either.

[Merriweather]

This gender bias bullshit again. Look, when people come to grips with the idea that it is 2012 and not all guys like "guy stuff" and not all girls like "girl stuff," and frankly, a lot of us like stuff from both areas.

Totally agree. We're well into the 21st century, and some things just haven't changed since the 50's. I know how things were when I was a little kid, in the 50's to early 60's. I always thought by the time I had kids, things would be different. Then at that point, figured by the time my daughter had kids it would be different. To be honest, I'n not expecting things to be so different for my great grand-kids, at this point.

Fortunately, there are always those who don't buy into the sterotypes, thank goodness. I was very lucky - while my parents were pretty traditional on most things, when it came to things I actually requested, they ignored the usual 1950's hype. I was the only girl I knew who had not only a dollhouse, but a toy gas station. And the only one I knew who made model cars as well as mosaics. I was extremely well-rounded for those decades.

My daughter was the same. She parked her Tonka trucks next to her dollhouse, and loved both Star Wars & Strawberry Shortcake.

My granddaughter had her Princess stage (everything was pink & sparkly, too) - in fact, she was more girly than either me or my daughter. But she's also several belts up into Tae Kwondo as well. Her chosen themes for birthday parties have included tea parties, & pirates.

Hopefully, sanity will overcome stereotypes one of these days.

[Treasure]

My personal favourite are the "women's tool kits". Ok, I will give you, I have small hands, I wouldn't mind a full set of good tools with slightly smaller/slimmer handles. But I refuse to believe that as a woman, I'm not capable of hammering a nail or removing a screw unless the handle of said tool is covered in lilacs or bright pink foam. Honest, people, the screws & nails don't notice, and the cats laugh hysterically.

the first christmas after my brother got into his apt, he realized he wanted/needed a tool kit - I was shopping w/ my mother, and we found the tool kits - in a navy/lt blue, and a burgundy/pink <bg>and for a couple of years now my brother and I have had this thing going where i get him something "pink and girly".... because I can... it doesn't phase him....</end bg> and I told mom to get the pink tool kit, and she told me no i could get it for him (technically I had already bought him his xmas gift - so she and I "swapped" gifts), so I did; he says he actually enjoys it b/c 1 he can find them (they stand out against everything else) and 2 no-one wants to borrow his tools - cause they're pink... LOL