When I was growing up in the fifties, we had two types of kids who were sometimes bullied--tomboys and sissies.
At school I had a friend named Betty who walked like an Amazon among her classmates. Always bigger and stronger than both the boys and girls, she used her strength to get her way.
I liked her alot and expressed my affection by kidding her (verbally). I think she liked me alot, too, and expressed her affection by kicking me very hard (physically) on my shins.
If my mother had been as protective of me as other mothers, she would have called Betty's mom and told her to make Betty stop making those big bruises on her sonny's legs.
Kids can be so cruel.
We know more today about why we had all these gender differences. And observing our cohorts' progress through life, we can see that those with a certain level of androgyny have fared well--perhaps even better--than the prissies and studs.
http://csulb.edu/~kmacd/361SEX.html
http://www.preventdisease.com/news/articles/born_to_be_tomboy.shtml
http://www.preventdisease.com/news/articles/born_to_be_tomboy.shtml
2 comments:
Betty kicked you??? Wow!!
I might have kicked you, too, had I been sufficiently provoked, but Betty was so much taller than both of us back then.
I don't remember you ragging on me for being a tomboy. Am I engaging in selective memory, or did you not do it, because I sure was one. Damn, I wish I could remember things better. I may just owe you a kick on the shins or two, heh heh.
I'm sure Betty is still taller than I. How about you?
I remember you as always well behaved and ladylike.
You were one of the egghead kids--way too smart for your britches. Four years of Latin? Who else did that? I was always afraid I wasn't using correct grammar when talking to you.
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