So, me and Diana were talking tonight about a reading we did for a class we're both in called Writing Women, and it's really got me thinking. Like a lot.
The reading had a quote in it that said “She can write like a man, they said, by
which they meant, She can write” (from "On Pandering" by Claire Vaye Watkins).
It's got me thinking a lot about "playing like a girl" and how women disguise their femininity to present themselves as more 'man-like.' It's sad. J.K. Rowling did it with her pen names - one is a male pseudonym! In She's the Man (based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night), Amanda Bynes' character, Viola, literally pretends to be a man to prove a point that women can play soccer (sports in general, and anything for that matter) just as well as men. Looking at the script now, I can see that the script pokes fun at expressions, gestures, and social behaviors which are usually thought to be gender-specific.
I remember growing up and playing baseball. I was sometimes the only girl on the team. Those times made me really glad that my nickname was "Alex," not "Allie." Reason: because it was less girly. I was always proud to be less girly than most other girls my age. Diana pointed out, "That's the problem. Less 'girly.'" She's right.
I grew up with the movie The Sandlot. It's still one of my favorites. My fave line?
"You play ball like a GIRL!!" Ham yells.
They all gasp.
It got me thinking: What if we lived in a world where softball came before baseball (and it was still a women's sport)?
I wouldn't have grown up with my parents buying me t-shirts at tournaments that said, "Yeah, I play like a girl. You got a problem with that?" or "You wish you could hit like a girl." There might have been only one boy on my teams sometimes. "Allie" might be my preferred nickname.
If we lived in a matriarchy instead, I wonder what qualities we would value and if some would be the same as in our society today. However, that would make us just as wrong as how dominant the patriarchy is in our world. I think we need a neutr-archy.
