Gender Stereotypes

I dislike gender stereotypes because I do not fit them, and I resent being judged under them. But if it is true that I am gender alternative, then maybe it is also true that the stereotypes are more or less accurate for the majority of people. In which case, I do not want to identify as male because I do not conform to stereotypical 'maleness' (and less to do with anything biological).

I find it frustrating that a person is expected to be male (which means to act like a male) simply because he was born with a penis, and ridiculed if he acts any other way. It's not just about what sexual organ you have, or even what gender you think your mind is - it's about whether you conform to a stereotypical behavior pattern.

And while nobody (or at least, almost nobody) fits the stereotype to a 'T', for a lot of people, it may be, as I said, a more or less accurate description, one that they may not altogether object to having. How many guys (and girls) do you know who have no problem fitting in to 'guy culture' (or girls into 'girl culture'), and take jokes about stereotypes with either a self-effacing or enthusiastic nod?

I don't mind, entirely, that there are people like 'guys' and people like 'girls' in the world (actually, I'm quite partial to girls), I just wish that there weren't just these two boxes that everybody has to fit into - one, or the other - and it bothers me that it's not even an individual's choice which box to fit into so much as something that's decided arbitrarily by whether you're hiding (because god knows you can't show it off in public) a penis or a vagina in your pants.