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“Being Gay, Coming Out”

“Being Gay, Coming Out”

Gendered Expectations

“You can’t play with He-man, he’s not for girls!” This phrase still echoes in my mind as I reminisce about my childhood playtime. As I reached for a He-man action figure from the toy box, I was handed a Barbie doll or a My Little Pony figurine. At that time, I was too young to realize the great chasm that gender had created for such a simple task as playing with toys. However, looking back, it becomes clear that gender, itself, plays a key role in the everyday lives of boys and girls.
From my experiences with the He-man doll, one can deduce a certain boundary line for activities between girls and boys. By having shared interests, girls and boys contribute to the “act of gender”. Although there is not overwhelming support, boys find it more rewarding to interact and play with boys, and girls to interact and play with girls, also girls more often gravitate to housekeeping corners and doll-play, and boys to...

Posted by: Asare Mabel

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