Gender Identity Presentation

The presentation today in class was informative but yet I felt as though it was a little sporadic. I liked that they made the difference between cross-dressing and trans-gendering clearer because I thought that if one cross-dressed, they were a transgender. A point was brought up in discussion today about men not having many options when it comes to dressing themselves. It is true that if a man is seen with a pink shirt on, people may look at him and question his sexuality. The area in which a person lives also plays a large role in those perceptions, for example what is socially unacceptable here in central PA, may be acceptable on the West coast. There are not very many articles of clothing, for men that are brightly colored because they are seen as flamboyant. It’s just the opposite for women, I feel as though I can wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants and still look feminine, and not have my sexuality questioned. This is probably because I generally wear makeup and earrings even if I am wearing sweats. I feel as though my gender identity was one for me to construct for myself growing up. My mother did not place a lot of restrictions or guidelines for me to follow when it came to dressing. She allowed me to be a tom-boy in middle school and then do a complete 180 going into high school. I feel so fortunate to have a mother who understood when it came to that stuff. To this day I still hate wearing a dress or high heels, because it is not comfortable to me.