Gender Roles

As a young woman, I have dealt with the stereotypes placed on boys and girls. In preschool, we had time for art every day. My favorite colors were green and blue, so I frequently made my four-year-old masterpieces with those colors. One day, the boy next to me asked me why I wasn’t using pink, which was a girl color, while blue and green were not. I told him that there were no boy and girl colors, only different colors, and I could use whichever color I so chose. I continued to draw with only green and blue. Similarly, society encourages girls to play with dolls and toy kitchens, preparing them for motherhood, while boys are encouraged to build with blocks and LEGOs, which teach problem solving skills, develop an interest in engineering, and prepare men for the workforce.

My family was very close with the family that lived across the street, who had two boys and one girl. Although we played dress-up together, we also played LEGOs and video games. For a long time, there were only three cousins on my mom's side of the family—my sister, my cousin Matt, and I. We spent a lot of time together, and because he was outnumbered, Matt played "girly" games with us. As there were only two girls, I was both "daddy's girl" and the son he never had. We played sports together, and I went to the Irish Center to watch games with him on the weekends. My dad once taught me this trick—a weird way to put your shirt on if it was inside out. When my mom saw me do it, she told me that was how boys put their shirts on, but I continued to do it because I was a tomboy and I didn't understand why there had to be different ways for boys and girls to do something.

Because Mount places critical importance on the education of women, I have come to value my education and my intelligence above all else. I have become more comfortable with my successes and less concerned with how men will view me if I am smarter than them. I have realized that I do not have to conform to stereotypical characteristics of femininity to be a woman. I have horrible dining etiquette, I've worn makeup less than 10 times in my life, I rarely wear jewelry, I eat like a teenage boy, and I wear my converse with almost all of my nice outfits. In an environment without the presence of boys, I have become more comfortable with myself, and this will continue into my future.

Personally, I expect my future romantic relationships to be generally egalitarian because I refuse to be tied into stereotypical gender roles.  Last year in English, we were discussing Pride and Prejudice and we did a group activity in which the students had a minute to write down important characteristics for a successful marriage. We then proceeded to write our most important value on the board. The girl before me wrote "love," and I wrote "equality." Love is important, but I know I could never love anyone who didn't treat me equally. While my parents conform to typical roles in some ways, they also split responsibilities. My dad cooks, and both of my parents work. I expect my marriage to be balanced.