As an only child I played with the neighborhood children, who were mostly boys. This worked well for me since I had rejected every doll my family had ever given me. I loved playing baseball, basketball and even tag football in the streets with the boys. And I turned into a tough little girl too. I played as rough as I got, and I had the scrapes and bruises to prove it.
The boys would often play nice with me and then when I would win, they would step up the intensity. I always wanted them to play with me like I was a boy, an equal. Playing like equals was pretty easy between the ages of 4-7. Something happened at age 8 though. I think I become a GIRL, and now the foe.
Ever since I was 8 years old, I have never regained that easy camaraderie with boys or men. My attempts to be an equal whether in school or work have been rebuffed at best. I was now restricted to the company of girls and women. And, so I discovered by age 11 that females were considered by many people to be unequal to males.
But I knew better from my tomboy days...and so since then I have devoted a significant part of my life to ending sexism. I have become a feminist. I have gone to rallies and marches, I have been an editor of a feminist newsmagazine at UCLA, and I have worked at women's organizations in Washington, DC. I guess you could say I've contributed to the women's movement.
But I don't know if this tomboy will ever get to play like an equal with boys and men. But my hope is that future generations of women will have far more opportunities to play ball with the guys. And I hope they win too!
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