Yay, Shir!

Or you call the good old boy maintenance supervisor and use some little ol' me on him to get his and his assistants' asses into your department to fix the frelling heat. It's worth the (apparent) loss of dignity and militant feminism to accomplish needs not only for you, but for the area of your responsibility. Short term. While you work long term to eliminate the need for such games.

Ryan is a lucky little guy--but then so's his family to have him. We haven't had pictures in a while, IJS.

I wanted to be a boy when I was a kid--pre-pubertal. I didn't care about the apparatus other than it was handy for peeing outside without partial undressing, but boys got to *do* things. Boys got to run around in a gang of other boys and get into stuff--get out from under constant parental oversight, or teacher or coach oversight. Girls, nsm. Here, dust this, mend that, help me wash the venetian blinds, that woodwork needs scrubbing, and come learn how to prepare greens for cooking. No way is any of that fun. I wanted to take my sandwich and an apple, a book, a magnifying glass, a pencil and a notebook and disappear for the day. And if I'd been a boy that would have been expected of me.

Now of course, parents don't dare let children of either gender out of their sight, kids have no unstructured free time or safe places to spend it, apparently.

Um. So no, never wanted to change gender, just have the same freedom and expectations/lack of responsibilities boys seemed to have.

And yay Shir!

When I was in first or second grade, I was envious that the girls would play house during recess. Once I bribed a girl with a stick of gum so I could play... but they didn't really involve me with it.

At that point there were about five boys and 14 girls in my class, so maybe that was part of it.

I've never been able to use beauty to get people to do things for me, but I have been able to use the poor little handicapped me, you must fix 'X' now.

Thanks, guys. It's not that "wow" (I mean, it is, but not that much), since we're a strong core of sci-fi con goers. I just happen to be the youngest. And after we all done our share with keeping the Israeli sci-fi/fantasy community alive, all of us, academia-inclined, naturally decided to do so with research.

Which is a very long way to explain how I only first heard about GLaDOS and Portal two days ago, and how I can't seem to stop singing and listening to Still Alive ever since.

I love my super brainy friends. Yes, that includes Buffistas.

Given that being dropped by a casual kick to the groin is the only drawback I see to being a guy, and there are many many drawbacks to being a girl, if given the magic opportunity, I might switch. I'm assuming that being a bi woman, I'd be a bi guy, and that would be fine. I've never really *wanted* to be a guy, but I've never really felt deeply feminine, either. Multiple orgasms, I've never had. I like other women's boobies; I wouldn't want to lose mine, but I'd be deliriously happy to have small boobs and never have to wear a bra again.

I know that I've gotten many things by being a thin pretty woman that I don't get being a fat plain one, but that advantage is only meaningful as a woman; it would be totally unnecessary if I were a guy. (I've always been able to switch the pretty on and off; the difference between frizzy hair/thick glasses and bouncy curls/contacts is so great that people have often not even recognized me. I've used that to my advantage too; being pretty can be dangerous, and there are times when it's good to be invisible. Also, only relevant to a woman. Except for extreme circumstances, men generally don't need to be invisible.)

Advantages to being a guy, too many to list here when I'm supposed to be working. Advantages to being a woman, give me a minute and maybe I'll think of one.

it would be totally unnecessary if I were a guy

No, it would be totally different. They aren't the same arenas. How many guys can say "But officer, I didn't realise!" to a cop and get out of a speeding ticket? Thing was, I hadn't realised. I was just telling the truth. I also blink a lot, pout, and wrinkle my nose as a normal part of my daily facial interactions.

Sometimes it's going to make people think I'm dumb and nothing more than the sum of my physical parts. But it really hasn't turned out that way much. I'm more likely to get by with what I don't know, than be ignored when I do know something.

I'm not going to lie--I've railed and pounded against the glass ceiling before, and probably will again. There are all sorts of claims other people want to make to my body that they wouldn't if I were male.

But I feel flexible. I can dress in drag and go to work and nobody looks at me funny. I can play close to either end of the gender stereotypes, and I have. And it's been marvellous. I would not start to try that shit as a guy. Coming of age when feminism is gaining traction is simply awesome. It's easier to be a chick that beats people up than a guy that cries.

It's easier to be a chick that beats people up than a guy that cries.

Can't argue with you there!

Sometimes it's going to make people think I'm dumb and nothing more than the sum of my physical parts. But it really hasn't turned out that way much. I'm more likely to get by with what I don't know, than be ignored when I do know something.

Yep. And I don't know how much of my "playing the system" is based on beauty (My Self-Image Issues, the comeback tour!), but more of the "Oh, she's a harmless girl, no need to pay attention to what she's doing" game.

Given that being dropped by a casual kick to the groin is the only drawback I see to being a guy

First, let me be clear that I'm not arguing over which gender has more/worse drawbacks.

There are stereotypes for both genders. Men are expected to be Competent in lots of areas. Which is fine, if you have an interest in those areas. But it's a drawback if you're male and not interested in those things that men are Supposed To Be Good At. I mean, I barely know how to open the hood of a car, never mind fixing one.

Perhaps the biggest drawback that I see is the requirement to be stoic -- "big boys don't cry" or "be a man." But sometimes life hurts. And having to hold it in (except for, possibly, a carefully chosen four-letter word or two) isn't easy. (Good grief, even writing about it isn't easy -- I'm not sure I have the vocabulary to describe it.)

And don't be a Nice Guy, because the world will walk all over you. Be rough and tough. Drink beer until you puke. Make crude comments about anything and everything, because nothing is to be taken seriously. Except maybe sports and sex.

And if you don't meet That Standard, you're a freak. Not really A Man. Somehow suspect. Because if you're male, Being A Man is what it's all about.

I'm not going to argue that males have it worse -- for one thing, I don't have the gut-level experience of what it's like to be female. But it often feels like females in today's world have at least a little more room to be individuals. Or at least more a more diverse selection of same-gender role models.