Gender Expression

One of my earliest memories I can recall where I was praised for being manly was when I was about 8 or 9. My dad had served in the Marine Corps and every couple of years him and his marine buddies would meet up and have a big BBQ. I loved these gatherings when I was younger because it gave me a chance to see how my dad truly was when he wasn't bothering with us kids. He was and always has been a "guys guy" and I suppose I've grown into that role as well. The earliest time I can remember where I was though was at one of these BBQs. My family and I were at one of my dad's buddies house and there were manly marines abound. He and his sons, who were about my age, had set up a slip and slide in the front yard for anybody to take part in. Of course us kids gravitated towards it immediately and proceeded to test our limits. The slip and slide was not very long, but it was exceptionally slippery. Perfect for flying off the back end with a good head of steam and looking pretty cool for doing as a nine year old. Well after a few times of us flying down it and soaring through the backstop our dad's started to take notice. They started to cheer us on to see who could go the fastest and fly the farthest from the backstop in to the grass. I was determined to out-do my sliding comrades and fly the furthest to impress my dad and his buddies. Soon it was just me and the oldest of the brothers who still had the stamina and fortitude to fly down the slide. At this point it had started to hurt and become not so fun, but the praise I received pushed that to the back of my mind. Now cuter daughters had even started to notice so I couldn't stop if I wanted to. After a final speedy and brutal roll down the hill I was declared the toughest and inspired a marine corps hymn amongst my new marine buddies. It is my earliest memory of feeling proud for being tough, but looking back upon it now I know that situation would have been much different had it been my sister doing the sliding.