Personal Narrative: My Definition Of Gender Roles

My childhood consisted of me not caring about school and staying the trouble making. I remember not liking to be told what to do, it made me angry whenever people would say that’s not expected of a girl. I would ask what is being a girl and your ability to do something have anything to do with your gender. The funny part was that no one could really answer that question not even myself. My theory in life is that life is full of surprises and that we cannot let others define what we are capable of because as long as you are determined, you can be anything you want to be. That’s something that actually has not changed about me throughout my life. I don’t think that we understand the definition of gender roles, or equality until we are fully …show more content…
My aunt adopted me so I started living with my aunt’s husband and my two sisters. Technically they are my cousins but since we grew up together, we consider each other sisters. This was different from what I was used to. There was actually a man in my life that was trying to provide for the family but it would collide with my mom. She lived in the United States for ten years before she brought us here, so she learned to provide for herself and the family back home. It was hard living with her husband again. I would say this is when I understood my gender roles. My mom had lots of expectations for my sisters and me. We had chores and limitations. We can no longer hang out with guys because we have already started out period and something about our hormones wanting to be with another man. My mom would constantly say, “Opposites attract!” it did not make sense to me because I grew up playing with guys and having this restriction only makes me be a rebel. In high school, my mom and I fought a lot because she did not like that fact that I did not like to clean. My room was always a mess. My little sister whom I love very much was the exact opposite of me. She enjoyed cooking, cleaning, and cooperating with my parents. My oldest sister was considered to be left alone at all times because she had a lot to deal with. Basically it was only school. So my little sister and I had schedule for doing laundry, cleaning the house, cooking, …show more content…
It was not great because I got drunk, or did everything I was not allowed to do when I lived with my family but because I was learning things about others and myself in every aspect. I was able to meet the greatest people on Earth that had the same point of view about gender equality, but also different point views that helped me understand that we are all different. My freshman year consisted of meeting all kinds of people that had been through more than I can imagine. Half of my friends already experienced rape, and abusive relationships that they could not seem to get out of. They dealt with living a life in which they had no say in because they were raised in house full of men. This time was when I met an individual that is great in every way and taught me that sex and gender were two different things. I was raised in society in which if you were born a girl, growing you identify yourself a girl. In her that was different. She was born male but she refused to accept her body as male so now she is a beautiful young lady. Her family was catholic so she would always use to come to me and cry. She could not find a way to tell her parents, that she was not a male but the opposite sex. That year we grew her hair out for her, and changed her style. It was the cutest thing to see because that was the happiest I ever seen her. You are probably wondering why I am sharing someone else’s story with you, well because that’s when I understood