Gender Expression Throughout My Life

From what I can remember as a child, I have always been more of a tomboy. I might have been seen playing with my barbies or dolls every once in a while, but most of the time I remember being more interested in the toys my younger brother was playing with. My grandparents live on a farm, so my parents would always take my brother and I out there to spend the day. We would always be dressed in our old patched up jeans, some raggedy old t-shirt, a baseball cap, and our rubber boots. I remember we would always go for rides on the four wheeler, help chase cattle around the cattle yards, and just do all sorts of things kids do when they're having fun. When the time came to head home, my brother and I looked like we had just taken a bath in the dirt. As a child, I wasn't really one who liked to stay inside all day. Instead, I would have much rather been outside playing with my brother getting as filthy as we possibly could. As I got a little older, I still remember continuing with the tomboy phase. My mom liked to dress me in cute girly clothes all throughout elementary school, but once I got to middle school, I found myself wanting to wear basketball shorts and a random t-shirt most days. I also didn't like to wear my hair down. I always had to have my hair in a ponytail with some sort of headband. I remember noticing that most of my friends didn't like to dress the same way I did, unless it was for P.E. My best friend throughout my childhood years, who still happens to be my best friend, was a very girly-girl. She had so many dolls that she liked to play with, and she was always dressed in the cutest clothes. I remember going over to her house and seeing all these dolls thinking to myself, why does she have so many? I also went through a phase where I never wanted to wear makeup. Even after starting high school I wasn't really interested in owning or wearing any makeup until about my junior year. Another thing I remember from my childhood was always wanting to hang out with my dad and brother. My mom was, and still is a nurse so she was always working all the time. The three of us would always like to watch football games together, or go outside and play catch with either a football or baseball. I think I adopted these tomboy characteristics because I grew up with a younger brother and just adapted to that kind of lifestyle. I can definitely say that things have drastically changed since that time of my life. Nowadays I want to wear makeup and want to dress myself in nice clothes. If someone would have told me back in middle school that when I got older I would wear nice clothes and makeup and totally change the way that I look, I don't think I would have ever believed them.