Maggie


 * Gender isn’t just what you look like, it is who you are labeled and who you are to become. It is common in this generation, but was it common back in the 70s? Both of my parents grew up in the 70’s, living their normal lives and hanging out with their own friends. But was it anything like today?**

**Linda McGetrick- My mother was nine years old in 1971. In her household, she didn’t have much of a choice to deal with boys. She has six brothers and one sister and all of them were pretty much forced to play together. Being so close to her brothers it doesn’t seem weird that my mom used to be a major tomboy. She had a haircut that was up to her ears and she didn’t mind dressing up as a cowboy for Halloween. Of course my mother did have a girly side. She recalls one time, she was sitting in her room, playing with her favorite dolly, Howdy Doody, when her two older brothers ran up and snatched her doll away from her. Her brother's then put her doll in a cardboard box and threw the box down the steps. My mom watched in horror before running down the steps and checking her doll for any damages. But even now, my mom’s sister is less of a tomboy then my mom now. My mom says that she was affected by having to deal with brothers 24/7. She is the person she is today because of her family and because of her tomboy side of herself when she was just a little girl. She said that most of the neighborhood would come together and play a huge game of baseball, gender put aside. It wasn’t strange that a boy and a girl were on the same team together. They would congratulate each other if they did well and cheered them up if they didn't do well. It was just the way things were.**

**Jay McGetrick- My father was also a child growing up in the 70’s. In 1971, my dad was eleven years old. Before he was born, his mother worked at the Barden Manufacturing Company but after he was born, she became a stay at home mom. My dad grew up with two brothers which made him the athletic guy that he is today. My dad attended a Catholic grammar school that was both boys and girls. Surprisingly, he said that it was less awkward to be friends with girls at sixteen than it was at ten. I questioned him saying that I thought he was the other way around but he said that when you are younger it is just kind of uncomfortable to be around girls. My dad says that some of his best friends are girls who work with him at his office and he has known them for many years.**

**It was interesting to hear about both my mom and my dad’s life growing up around gender because it is so much different from mine. I go to school with both genders but there are separations between boys and girls. Boys have their own clique and girls have theirs. Most boys go outside for recess and play some sort of sport while most girls sit talking. And I'm not trying to be sexist here but that is just what I have observed in our school. I live with two sisters and one brother and that effects me because I have the opportunity to hang out with girls and then go and play with my brother outside. My brother is also willing to go outside and play games while my sisters most of the time don't enjoy going outside and playing. I also share a room with my older sister which effects me because I have to listen to the music she likes and decorate the room only if she agrees. My mom was different from my dad being that she was an athletic girl and didn’t really care about her looks until teenage years. My dad being different from my mom being that he was uncomfortable around girls at a young age and grew more comfortable around them later on. They grew up in the same time period but it was different growing up around gender for both of them.**