Gender as I Walked Down the Pedestrianized

Gender

As I walked down the pedestrianized shopping mall, I immediately took note of the configurations of people on the sidewalk. There were many groups of females together -- either in twos, or groups of four or more. There were also some lone females, too, of course. There were many couples, and also a few groups of male friends. When looking at these different configurations of people and individuals, the way they "do" gender became almost immediately apparent. The most obvious and glaring sign of "gendered" identity is clothing. Women on this shopping street tended to dress quite nicely. Many were wearing high heels, and those who were in flats were in stylish ones as opposed to sneakers. Some of the men were dressed nicely too, but many were wearing sloppy clothing such as old T-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. In addition to the differences in what men and women were wearing, there were noticeable differences in the ways they walked and carried themselves. The differences between the genders were largely due to who the individual was with. For example, when women were alone or with other women, they tended to have straight backs and good postures. Their gestures tended to be overtly "feminine," in the sense that they used hand gestures a lot, and wide-eyed facial expressions when speaking with their friends. I could not help but notice that the women who were coupled with a man carried themselves differently. Many were contend just to hold hands with their male companion, and walked slower and less confidently than the women who were alone or with girlfriends.

There were two gay couples walking down the pedestrianized shopping street. There was a lesbian couple, including one girl who was "butch," with a very short haircut and punk clothing. She was holding hands with her more stereotypically "feminine" girlfriend, who had long pink hair and was wearing short shorts with leggings underneath them. It was interesting to observe the lesbian couple, and compare their method of "doing" gender with the ways that heterosexual couples do gender. In this case, we clearly had a situation in which one of the women fell into the gendered norm of being "girlie," whereas her partner took on the appearance and mannerisms of "masculinity." This made me think harder about the ways gender and sexuality interface; as well as the ways gender and sexuality impact personal identity.

The other gay couple consisted of two men. This couple was interesting to observe because neither of the men fulfilled any stereotype in terms of "gayness." Both were dressed casually, and if they were not holding hands, one would not assume they were gay based on dress or mannerisms. This also made me contemplate the different interpretations of gender, gendered identity, and sexual identity. Some people value gendered self-expression more than others.

This is as true for men as for women. There were several groups of males who fit the jock stereotype to a tee. They were loud, obnoxious, and leering at most of the women who walked by. Sometimes, a guy would actually make a lewd comment or whistle. The reaction of their female pray was usually disgust. Yet these guys seemed to believe that their behavior was suitable for a male.