I went to the mall the other day and this little girl was looking at this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt, she was so happy she finally found one and was jumping up and down begging her mom to get it for her. The mother took it from her put it on the wrack and said “No that’s a boy shirt. Get this shirt.” The mom held up a more girl shirt that had sparkles and pink on it with no turtles. The girl looked so disappointed but went along with what her mother said. So without further of due let’s talk about a situation, at least a situation in my eyes which is Gender roles. Honestly Gender roles shouldn’t exist. Gender roles to me is pretty much a useless label. In reality the definition for gender roles is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex. As in “hey you can’t speak like that, that’s how guys speak.” Gender roles does not just have to do with behavior, it also has to do with clothing and a way you have to dress. Or even a certain color someone can like and not like.

An example of gender roles having to do with color is that guys are not allowed to have pink or purple as there favorite color(s) because its a girly color.  if you’re a guy and your  favorite color has to do with pink or even purple people will start teasing you about your sexual preference; it’s sad but very true. Another of gender roles, that have to do with clothing, is that a girl cannot buy a certain piece of clothing because it’s “strictly” meant for males only. it goes the same way for a boy who wants to wear something “strictly” made for a females.

Another example about gender roles are hair cuts. If you get your haircut a certain length then you are “trying to become a boy”. You’ll even get made fun of, my one friend got her hair cut really short and people start calling her names and judging her because of her style. It was terrible, and should not of happened. its her hair and her body so why make her feel terrible. She wad not really fazed by it because she loved it, and so did I. That’s the thing society made us think that if you wear this or get your hair cut like this then it is wrong because that not how your gender should look, think and dress like.

A third example is that a boy cannot play with dolls because that’s a female toy. Let a child play with whatever he wants. If he wants to play with a barbie then let them do it. Why tell a boy he can’t be happy doing what he likes to do? Honestly it’s just wrong to do that.

A final example is that if you’re a guy then it’s weird and people think bad of you if you’re a guy that actually cleans around the house and cooks. People just think of cleaning and cooking as a “’ job”. which it isn’t! You can be whatever gender and do whatever you want. My pap cleans the house for my grandma and cooks sometimes. I don’t think any differently of him, honestly i respect him more because of it. He doesn’t like the house to be dirty, and he helps my grandma because she has bad knees.

I’ll be honest with you here, I buy male clothes. Most of the hoodies I have are from the male section. Same thing with my sweatpants. In my opinion there hoodies and sweat pants are really comfy and baggy so you really don’t feel restricted instead you feel comfortable. I even buy male shoes, my black vans that I have where male shoes, same thing with the grey Supras I wear. But I honestly don’t care, i’ll wear whatever “gender” clothing I want. Look around, a lot of girls do it. Some girls even buy male flannels, I certainly do. Honestly the way I see clothes is that If it fits, then wear it! I use to buy boy clothes for my niece when she was a baby, i’d get her boy onesies that have batman on it all the time. I bought my nephew a panda “girl” onesie the one day, and he rocked it!

I’m not the only one that feels like girls and guys should not have to wear a specific style of clothing, Look at Rihanna. She admitted in multiple interviews that she buys male clothes and wears them. She’s even doing a fashion show and clothing that mixes male and females clothes into one outfit; which is pretty neat.

Point blank I do not see the whole reason for the Gender roles thing, and the whole “oh you’re a girl do you have to wear this type of clothing and if you wear male clothing then you’re considered this or that.” Now yes I know this is not exactly an intense problem like world hunger and stuff but in a way it can be considered as bullying. As in, if you wear a piece of male clothing then kids will start making fun of you and calling you names. Its sad but true. Anyways, why not put an end to this whole gender roles stuff. I mean in a way we did, as in with the whole gay marriage ting. We stopped saying “oh you’re a girl so you HAVE to marry and date a boy and vica versa.” So why not just end gender roles completely?