Fifteen, Punk, and Slightly Feminine

Growing up tomboy, there were many things I always avoided that other girls enjoyed - dresses, braiding each other's hair, and crushes (especially crushes). When all the other girls were busy talking about boys and painting their nails a pretty pink, I was always playing laser tag and talking about the latest anime craze. That’s right, I’m an anime fan, but I’ll save that for a later article.I still have many tomboy characteristics. My usual outfit is a t-shirt and jeans with tennis shoes. I’ll still go for a game of laser tag any day and I find videogame violence kind of cool. However, now I’m always trying to do something new with my hair. I wear eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow; I even paint my nails every three days! Basically, I’m becoming what I made fun of. Remember a time when it was practically blasphemy for a woman to wear pants? That was a step above all women being expected to be housewives, yet still a step below women and men being considered equal members in society. My friend's mother once commented on how now it’s no big deal to see a girl in jeans, yet a while back, it was never even a thought. At first I thought it had to do with fads and said I would do it anyway. Later, I realized I was wrong. Women wore skirts because it was just the way things were. It was like a student strutting into school nude - not even a consideration. Now everyone wears pants. It's no big deal. Skirts and dresses are still considered a female thing, though. Understandably, it will take a bit longer for guys to be able to walk around wearing skirts without being teased. It’s something a lot of people are still small-minded about. Yet, ideas are changing. Girls are getting more and more into baseball, football, and other sports that are considered ‘tres male’. Instead of women being expected to stay at home and raise the kids, some fathers are becoming stay-at-home dads. We may even soon have a female-president (not that I want Hilary Clinton to be president).

There is still a firm stereotype of girls, just like there’s a firm stereotype of boys. An old one is that girls aren’t interested in video games. This one has faded a bit in the past five years or so, especially with games like Guitar Hero and Dance, Dance Revolution, but I have found the stereotype still very much exists.I was in orchestra class waiting for things to start when I overheard a group of girls talking. (I overheard! I wasn’t eavesdropping I just happened to hear it.) One of the girls was complaining because she was hanging out with her boyfriend and he was playing an army game. The girl wanted to play the game. The boyfriend simply waved it off saying, “Hold on, in a minute I’ll put Guitar Hero in.” The girl responded the same way I would have - “Excuse me?” It would have been one thing if she was bored or didn’t like the game, but she had asked to play and he assumed the game was too ‘manly’ for her. I don’t think he meant to be rude; he just made an assumption.It makes me happy that my boyfriend brought over Devil May Cry 3 to my house. He taught me to play it and everything! Then again, it’s obvious I’m tomboy. Sometimes he and I debate male/female actions and reactions. For example, I’ve been trying to lose weight, and the other night I commented that men tend to lose weight more easily than women. He disagreed. He thought girls lost weight more easily. I find it hard to believe that. I’m a part of Weight Watchers and the men in our group seem to lose weight faster. Not to mention, my father seems to unload the pounds easily when he actually tries. My brother and I also sometimes debate the whole female/male stereotypes. He once stated that women have a harder time letting go of things than men do. At first, I said, "Whatever." This was coming from the guy who held a vendetta against my father for eating his lasagna three months ago. Then I thought of every girl I knew, in and out of school, and I realized he could be right. Girls might hold grudges longer than guys. As for being considered feminine or masculine, maybe it’s something to think about. I am starting to wear make-up and wear jewelry more than I use to, but for different reasons than you might think. Any other teenage girl might think of make-up as a way to be more beautiful; to me, it’s a way of expression. I wear make-up because it paints who I am as a person. My make-up is almost always darker because I’m into the gothic/punk scene. As for jewelry, I wear it to draw energy to myself. It sounds strange, but during ancient Egyptian times, the powerful and royal would wear jewelry as a symbol of their power. I’m not saying I think I’m a queen or anything (although I have been known to call myself ‘Queen of the nerds’), but jewelry can attract the confidence and power a king or queen had, giving me positive energy. A couple weeks ago, my best friend, her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and I had what we called a goth pajama day. We dressed in our pajamas and wore eyeliner and black lipstick. My best friend's boyfriend wears eyeliner on a daily basis. My boyfriend attempted to wear eyeliner, but he started moving too much. I thought he looked really cute with it on. I see more guys wearing eyeliner, which use to be just a girl thing. I suppose, in a way, men and women are never going to be associated with the same interests. Football is always going to be associated with men, just like make-up will always be a women’s thing, no matter how many women are watching the game or how many guys are wearing eyeliner. In a way, though, do we really want to be associated with the same interests? I mean, all of us are always complaining about how complicated the opposite-gender is. We obviously drive each other crazy. So, why would we want to be alike? The way I see it, maybe we should just accept that men and women are different, and at the same time accept that every women is different, just like every man is. Some girls were born masculine; some guys have a feminine side. Maybe this way there can be a middle ground between men and women.

Article Author: Katelynn Phillips

Katelynn Phillips is a young fanfiction writer and all-around average teenager. When she's not doing her school work at home, riding her horse, or hanging with her friends or boyfriend, she is at home writing until her fingers bleed. …

Visit Katelynn Phillips's author page — Katelynn Phillips's Blog