Gender Norm Activity

Pamela Murillo
September 9, 2009
Gender activity

Gender Activity Behavior

A behavior that I chose to change which is not normative to my gender is the way I sit down. I usually sit with my legs crossed like most girls do, but this time I chose to sit down with my legs open wide, and if I was not physically doing something with my hands, I would put my elbows on my knees while sitting down with my legs wide open. This is a normal behavior for most guys; therefore it is totally acceptable by society seeing a man sitting this way. I practiced this behavior while I was at work, and all my coworkers kept on looking at me in a funny way, some of them asking me if I was ok. I tried to act normal as if I always sit that way, but every women and men thought it was weird and kept looking at me in a strange way.
Doing this made me feel so uncomfortable since I don’t normally sit that way. I did it for a whole day at work, and it was very interesting seeing people’s faces while passing by and seeing me sitting in that position. I guess society is already used to seeing a women sitting with their legs crossed and in a more fashionable manner, so when they see the opposite happening they start to feel uncomfortable.