Gender Express Throughout My Life - Taylor Swanson

I grew up in a small farming community with a family consisting of my mother, father, and two brothers. Whether it was the rural area or my masculine brothers (or a combination of the two), it was not uncommon in my childhood to do boyish activities. In fact, one of my favorite activities growing up was riding in the tractor with my dad. However, despite these major components of my childhood, I was still very much influenced in a feminine manor. For example, one of my earliest memories from my childhood consists of me participating in dance class, more specifically, Ballet. While I enjoyed playing in the mud with my brothers and riding in the tractor with my father, I absolutely loved to go to dance class. Ballet class consisted of my childhood self wearing pink tutus, tights, and bows, and learning the art of Ballet dancing with some of my closest childhood friends. When my first recital time came along, my little self could not contain the amount of excitement and happiness I felt. On my first recital day, my mom took me to get my hair styled and pinned up by her hairdresser, and she even let me wear a little bit of makeup (lipstick and blush of course). Many, if not all, of my childhood girl friends shared a very similar experience. Therefore, I received positive, or encouraging, communication and feedback from this event in my life. My hair, makeup, and clothing followed the social construction of my gender, and in turn, the individuals around me encouraged just that. This event aided in forming my idea of femininity and how I wanted to portray myself. Furthermore, I believe this event in my childhood sparked my interest in girly things: makeup, hair, clothing, etc. However, this did not mean I lost my interest in boyish activities. In fact, helping my father in the fields is still one of my favorite past-times. While I was never necessarily punished or given negative communication from these activities, I definitely felt, and feel, more accepted doing typical girly activities. When reading about the paradox of the female athlete, it is clear that there is a big difference between the idea of what a woman should look like (petite, clean, pretty) vs. what the ideal athlete looks like (muscular, strong, sweaty). However, when it comes to exercise and sport, you should not do what you think is expected of you, you should do what makes you happy and comfortable. Furthermore, "there are positive links between positive body image and engaging in moderate exercise" (Schultz, O'Reilly, & Cahn, pg. 81). More importantly, exercise how, when, where & with who you want to-- that is exactly what I did as a childhood ballerina and it is exactly what I do as a busy college student now.