It's a big battle being comfortable with who you are and how you look, especially during the more tender years where youngsters can easily succumb to certain influences. However, usually the bigger portion of our concern stems from the dissatisfaction of our physical appearance. And although as a girl it's easy to wish I was a 'different' girl (Cindy Crawford for me!!!), or could change certain features I simply spent too much time looking at, I did stray to the other side of the spectrum...to wander about boyhood. I've often complained about being a girl, but as I’ve grown and settled in the comfort of my own skin I’m more weary of the difficulties that face the opposite sex.
As a female, I remember looking through windows enviously at the noisy boys playing football and joking with laughs that echoed through the street displaying a freedom that at the time seemed to have no limits...
I remember boys being excused at certain hours of the day or night that girls; even in a group of one hundred, would never be permitted to roam passed the protective barriers. I remember hearing boys shouting for joy and laughing, whilst the girls would bicker with one another and gossip and break up one day then miraculously make up the next.
And then all of a sudden puberty kicks in and being a girl becomes a competition, who develops the fastest, and who develops the slowest. Who captures the attention of the boys, and who are the invisible ones that seem little but a part of the air. Who eats the most, but puts the least weight on then who eats the most, and puts the most weight on and of course who eats the least. School uniforms became something to customize and accessorize, and walking became something to be perfect accompanied by shoes to emphasize her walking style, much less lifestyle. And not forgetting, who discovers (cheap) makeup and applies it with some finesse.
Labels for the 'popular girls', the 'smart' ones (there weren't many of those in my school that's for sure), the 'babes', the 'easy ones', the 'ugly ones', 'the smelly ones' (or the ones never to sit next to), 'the messy ones' (usually a case of unbrushed hair), the 'loud ones' and so on were easily distributed by no other then girls themselves. My thinking turned to become why it was always the girls who seemed to have 'girls' as their biggest enemies, no matter how trivial an issue would be or how uninspiring a girl would be...she'd always be at the end of someone's bitterness. Jealousy perhaps? Time wasting? Or is it just the need to feel that we stand against what the girl represents?
I came to the stage of giving up on the battle of being comfortable as I am, yet my mentality began to wander at a later stage in life on what it would be like to experience manhood...funnily enough now that I’m older, I see the complications that challenge both sexes, and the only thing that I would want to do if I were a man for a day is to beat someone up! And that's female frustration.
If you were a member of the opposite sex for just a day, what would you do and why? And what do you envy about the opposite sex and cherish about your own?
By guest writer Samantha
comments
oh u just complicating stuff for nothing,
you still be the woman you are and stand up for yourself and let all ur female frustrations!
i hate it when woman wanna be something else just to avoid some kind of woman's suppression.
sorry but this is my 5 cents.
Dina, no ones complicating anything. It's just a normal course we all experience throughout growth...to be curious about what the world looks like from another persons perception. It's quite natural. And it's a path we all have to experience as it will eventually strengthen the individual as a woman or otherwise. I'm quite contempt with what i am illhamdulil'allah but it's only because of the challenges of the past. It's not about being suppressed, it's about the obstacles of growth, and the curiosity we should all have about other beings...otherwise how will u be understanding, how will u benefit without curiosity, how will u be able to sympathize with humanity if u never learn to put yourself in another persons shoes? No one mentioned it being good or bad, sometimes u don't have to classify things as being positive ot negative, they can quite simply be natural and therefore neutral.
mmm interesting...wen i was yunga i used 2 always wana b a boy...n da reason was...coz dey had a wider range of trainers...mmmhmmm sad i know! i fort dey had more fun. but i jus LOVE being a girl..its da best! our clothes, hair, makeup, the fact we dont have 2 work...jus every thing rocks..but wot i hate is the competition that girls have against one another..drives me crazy..i try 2 keep as fas away as possible from girls who wana compete wid me. also de periods..i hate em...yikhribaatik ya period..uh
o n also we get 2 b MUMMYS! yeeeey i love babieeesss
if i were a guy 4 da day... dont really no wot i could do...jus hang out i suppose...ooo actually id love 2 b a gangsta 4 da day...da way dey chat is so jokes....
samantha,
fair enough, i think i was not clear on what you meant.
if i was a male for one day, i dont think i will make anything different, probably i will be other feminists fighting for women rights, and end the double standards found in the arabic culture.
lets say, i would be the nice male version, with a nice sensitive side :D
to come to think of it again,
what i find intersting, i've talked with a good number with arabic girls, and alot of them wanted to be "boyz" when they were young, i think it is our culture that drives some women to feel that way. Also, one interesting reply i got from one girl, she said, i will date and be like don juan, i think it is probably also a question of sexuality!
It is only boyz seem more free and that what makes girls more envious.
Also, there are guys who sometimes envy girls of being girls, i talked to a guy, he was actually canadian and not an arab, he told me, "hell yeah, with a diamond solitare ring, and sit at home", alot of boyz seem to be envious of girls for having the option to sit down at home and not work. lol
well samantha, thanx for your interesting topic :)
dis gal once told me she wants 2 b a guy so she can date gals..mmmm strange....
but das de only gal i no dat wants 2 b a guy...n shez really weird...n she smells :(
yh man...good one samantha..were starting 2 get sum decent topics...not star academy kol shwaya..khalaas tihi2t!
let's have fun relating to the topic:
A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife
stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:
"Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please
allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen"
God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish. The next
morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, Set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, Drove them to scho ol, came home and picked up
the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners And stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, Then drove home to put away the groceries, Paid the bills and balanced the checkbook. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then it was already 1 P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor.
Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with
them on the way home. Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, Then set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.
At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad,
breaded the meat chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.
After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded
laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. At 9 P.M. he was exhausted
and, thoug h his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.
The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please, let us trade back."
The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied, "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were.
You'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got pregnant last night."
yh das tru..every1 noz that men dont no aw much their wives go through n woteva...well not all men..but alot do...so dumb..dey cum home from work n expect everything 2 b done for them. n dey seem 2 fnk dat women sit there all day relaxin..woteva! neways i still love being a GIRL!
omg Heidy ur comment was really funny! lolz. anyways, i've never really wanted 2 b a guy so badly but i do sumtimes envy my brother cus he's expected 2 get high grades. fair enough, but y am i expected 2 get high grades AND do all the house work at the same time??! my mum says that all girls go through the same thing but i think sum1 shud change that habit cus its really annoying! anyways, i still luv being a girl.
if i was a guy for a day , i wud go around askin all my guy frendz who dey fancy! that wud b very amusing!
Dear Sam,
with all consideration to how you see things, but consider "how we look" is once sence "seeing" still other four sences to evaluate the person.