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...

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…