The stereotypes that are associated with males and females are extremely different. Females are expected to be things like- sensitive, classy, unintelligent, and maternal. Where as males on the other hand are expected to be things like- tough, insensitive, smart, competitive, and athletic. If a male or female has qualities that are looked at as not "normal" such as a girl being tough they would be titled as, "manly".
Many toys that little kids play with are very gender specific. For example, dolls and dress up clothes are for girls and play cars and action figures are for boys. What if a boy wants to dress up in a princess dress? This is exactly what happened when my brother was about five years old. I was seven at the time and had a lot of princess costumes. One day my younger brother decided he wanted to wear my Ariel princess costume. We had recently just moved into our new house and hadn't met our neighbors yet. The day my brother decided to dress up in my costume we decided to go to the park down the street. A couple boys around the age of eight or nine looked at my brother oddly and I heard them whisper, " that kid must be gay!" and they started laughing. My brother had no idea that what he was wearing was girly or made him seem "gay". I didn't really understand at the time but now looking back on it I find it very sad that this is how society has shaped us to think. My brother wasn't wearing my costume because of his sexuality at the age of four. He was simply copying what I wore. He was too young to understand and all he was trying to do was be more like me because I was his role model. When I brought this story up with my mom a few days and asked her how she felt about my brother wearing that costume she replied, "It was just a phase Bari- he was trying to be like you his cooler older sister! It had nothing to do with his sexuality.He was too young to understand what any of that means anyway."
My brother is now fourteen years old and is straight. He wears soccer jerseys, shorts, and nikes everyday- no more dress up costumes :). He laughs looking back at the old pictures of him when he use to wear my costumes and says laughing, " what was I thinking!?"Now its just a humorous memory but still portrays a stereotype that our society has of what girls and boys should act like and wear.
