O. G.
Gender Norm Activity

Attempting to transgress the boundary of gender and the norms that society appropriates the sexes with, I decided to dress up like a man this Labor Day. Not succeeding in looking like a normal male, I came off as a rather seemingly androgynous person. After taking off all my jewelry (which I wear all the time), I took a long, hard look in the mirror. Swallowing my fears, put on a baggy pair of boyfriend jeans, a loose, plaid button-down, and a pair of borrowed colorful Nikes. Feeling very unsure, but slightly optimistic, I headed upstairs – to the kitchen. My parents stopped in the middle of what they were doing to turn around and look at me. They talked to me briefly, and I let go of the notion that they thought that anything was wrong with my new look. Nonetheless, when I was about to leave the house, saying “Well, I’m going out for a bit,” both of my parents said simultaneously, with a shocked tone, "dressed like that?!"

Seeing as I work only 2 blocks away from my house, I decided to stop by my job to pick up my paycheck, and to continue my little experiment. I work at a clothing store in Brooklyn, so even when I'm at work I have to be attractively-dressed, so I can better approach customers. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by my manager, a 65-year-old man. After exchanging greetings and getting my paycheck, he asked, "You're feeling sick?" I replied, "No, I feel fine!" He then said, "Everything is okay? Nothing’s going on? If you want tell me now so I could take you off Wednesday's schedule." By this time, I was already feeling offended, so I just repeated that everything great, and said my goodbyes.

Needless to say, I didn't go to meet my friends after that. I simply went to the grocery store, where the cashier who is usually friendly and extroverted towards me, just furrowed her brow and hardly said hello. So I headed back home, feeling a little hurt and confused. I felt a little uncomfortable by the reactions of those who knew me. I knew that my outfit wasn't outright "masculine", it was just less "feminine" than what I'm usually seen wearing. I felt like I broke a sort of gender expectation, which in a way I created for myself. People are used to seeing me in certain clothing, so when faced with something that can almost pass for masculine clothing; they felt uncomfortable, as did I. The fact that I felt like I had to change before seeing my friends was another give-away of the fact that I felt like I was out of my own skin, and like I wasn't being treated the way I usually am by those who know me.