What it feels like for a girl

As a friend of mine once said to me; "You are not en estrogen bomb". What he wanted to say in context that I might not be the measure of all things female, which I couldn't agree more. Now don't get me wrong, I very much love to be female and I don't want to be a guy at all, all I'm saying is that the typical female stereotypes might not all apply to me.

My mum always says that we are not as typical because even though we are probably as emotional as every other woman too, we also have like a layer of sense above that. Again, I say that's the difference to the stereotype, there are thousands of women who don't apply to that cliche and I'm aware of that. I'm not sure if I see it exactly like here, because sometimes I'm very much just emotional or hormonal as some unknowing men would like to call it. 

I like spending time with male specimen. When I was younger that was not the case, but nowadays I do. We had a class reunion a few weeks ago and after eating at a Mexican restaurant we went to a bar. In there we met three guys who went to school with us, but not in the same class. With two of them I went to primary school and I've known them since I was seven. It casually happened that I engaged in a conversation with them, I think about girls. At some point one of the guys took my phone, looked at my contacts and at some photos. I let him because I didn't mind. A minute later a friend of my class approached me, gave me a distinguished smile and said: "Did he give you his number?" I couldn't do anything but shake my head. I had been talking to them for fun, I think we even talked about the girl one of them fancies and he even texted my flatmate because he thought she was cute. I’m ok with being one of the guys in some situations.

I'm a woman, but I'm not being friends with guys to find a boyfriend, nor do I try to fit in where I don't belong. In my opinion I'm just acting natural. I don't have to pretend to find video games cool, because even though I haven't played a massive amount of them,  I grew up with a brother who thought me the essentials. Besides I really think the legend of Zelda and Assassin's Creed are rad games. Sometimes I like the kind of irony and sarcasm that, in my surrounding, is found more often in guys than in gals. I also get the ambiguous jokes some guys like to make, and sometimes I can’t help but laugh at them. Lastly, occasionally I think there is nothing more fun than having a play fight with someone. I'm neither strong nor athletic, which means at some point I kind of have enough and give up, to that mark though I totally enjoy it! Men are like little boys, and sometimes I like to let my inner kid out too.

The next thing I want to talk about is cloths, appearance and all these things. Mostly I wear jeans and a t-shirt, no make-up, no earrings, hair brushed but open, only little jewelry like a watch and bracelet and occasionally a necklace. I don't spend a lot of time figuring out what to wear in the morning, I just grab a pair of jeans, and depending on the colour I pick a t-shirt (I just don't want to wear all black for example). If I'm really honest that's not how I like to look though. I once had a conversation with a dear friend about what we would wear if we didn't mind at all. I told her I'd be looking way more feminine that I do know. I like skirts and dresses. I enjoy putting on make-up and I can't wait till my hair is long enough to get my next project done (red ombré ends). Also I have started a little obsession with nail polish the past few weeks. 

Why don't I just change then? I once wore pink lipstick to church and the review were very mixed. Also skirts can be annoying if you are not the best-behaved person which means you don't want the world to see your knickers whilst driving a bike or sitting on the floor. Make-up is difficult because once people get used to your make-up face, they forget how you look without, which means you'll look rather bad. I want to treat myself with these things, and a treat is only effective if it's not a regular. Also I probably still put way too much thought in being judged by others. Bad move.

It doesn't mean I'm less of a woman just because right after pride & prejudice, my second favourite movie of all time is the matrix trilogy. Just because sometimes I get so annoyed by fellow females that I just need to watch an action movie, doesn't mean I do not love my gender. Only because I'm stubborn enough to try and do almost everything on my own and I hate to get help doesn't mean I can't accept it when I really need it. Finally, it doesn't make me less of a woman to be technical support to my dad, to my Uni friends and to my flatmates (who cannot even change a freaking light bulb on their own). It just makes me more of the woman I'd like myself to be. I have some manliness points for cliff jumping and watching the movie "300" but I'm pretty sure I lost them the moment I decided to never jump again or when I started painting my nails out of boredom while watching the movie. I can not replace any man ever ;)

Now there is one topic I'm purposely not going to talk about, that's the whole rape culture thing. That would be way more than I actually want to talk about. There is injustice towards women that's for sure, and as the person I am I have no right to judge that in any way. This post concentrates on stereotype that I think can be annoying, but in the end they do no actual harm.

As a cisgender heterosexual female I can say that some aspects of my gender help me whereas others set boundaries I don’t like. I’m lucky to be living in a world where it’s ok not to get married and have kids. I live in a world where a woman chases her goals, whatever they might be. Every human being on this planet is different, whether you have two X chromosomes, XY or something else. From Tomboys to Fashionistas, whatever floats your boat is what you should live, same applies of course for the males. Stereotypes and statistics do not determine a person. Society tries to but if you won’t let it, if you do you, then it stands no chance.

Thank God I’m a woman ;)

Cheerio. 

P.S If you want to hear a song about this topic that I love click this.

Just get lost!

I'm very shy. People who know me a little better might know that shy is the wrong word for it, that it's a bit more complicated. Basically when I'm in my group of friends, then I'm perfectly fine, I just adjust to them and it’s ok. As soon as I have to do something alone, where I don't have nobody’s lead to follow, I get a little lost. That is something I'm working on, I want to be my own boss, I want to become independent, and I know that I can make it. Right now, I'm not. So if I decide now to actually do things alone, then it needs a lot of courage and also effort for it to happen, but I'm fighting my way there.

So a couple of days ago I had a day off of work. The first thing I did was sleep in, as I really needed some kind of break. Around 1 pm I realized that just lingering around in my jim-jams all day wouldn't be enough, even though usually that's my perfect thing to do on such a day. I then decided to take my bike and go to an electric store a bit away from where I'm living because my brother had an unused gift card and I wanted to get a better memory card for my camera. Before I left the house I already felt that it wouldn't be done with just driving there and then go back, I wanted to do some exploring too. 

Now think of it, I live in a rather small city, and I've been living there for twelve years. There aren't that many places left that I don't know like the back of my hand, but I wanted to find one. The last time I felt so strangely melancholic was when I managed to nearly get lost in the forest near my house. I have a good sense of orientation, but at some point I decided to leave the path and to find a way through the scrub. In the end I got out exactly where I thought I would, but to get there was a little adventure, in a save environment. I wanted to do that again.

What I did first was to put in my earphones and to turn of the music. That really helped me to get even more in the mood. Then I asked myself what place I didn't know that well and that I now wanted to see. I saw in my head a picture a friend once posted on Facebook and I knew roughly how to get there. It was even close to the electric store, so the decision was an easy one. It's on the same lake as the city, but separated by a peninsula. I did not even think of it but it happened naturally that I followed the street along the lake to get back to the city, instead of taking the direct way. It went up and down, and it took me about two hours, but in the end I got back. Throughout all of this I knew more or less where I was, but I'd never visited this place before. I was out, on my own, following my strange melancholy to some very beautiful places along my ride. 

When I was back in the city, everything was too loud and too fast. I wasn't out that long, but I felt so calm inside that even those things were disturbing my mood. It was all in all really surreal, but it felt so good. Of course you might wonder why I even shared that, but I've learned to appreciate little moments of happiness, and I was truly happy that day and I was satisfied with having followed my emotions. Just a normal day for everybody else...

Cheerio.

A hairy situation

I hate going to the hairdresser. When I was a little kid I refused to brush my hair so it always looked like a haystack. In order to prevent major knots in it, my mum forced me to either go to the hairdresser regularly, or let her brush it. I'm not sure if that's the reason, but to this day I don't really like people touching my head, and due to that I really dislike going to the hairdresser. Of course I don't wander around looking like a tramp. Like every decent human being I wash my hair, and I try to keep it tidy, but that was about it. I go to the hairdresser about every year, except last year when I went twice.

So why even bother talking about that? Well there are certain things I observed about hair. For example, whenever I actually go to the hairdresser, I decided to cut my hair rather short. Last year was special though. I wanted the hairdresser to cut my hair extra short because it meant something to me. Long hair is very feminine and girly, something I associate with well-being, whereas in my head short hair symbolizes strength, confidence and maybe a bit of 'I-don't-care-what-other-people-think' attitude. Yes, we live in modern times where one can wear their hair however they want, but still I had this in my head when I cut it short. After all, it helped me through a difficult time and reminded me that I only need to please myself, which I do.

There are a lot of women out there who care a lot about their long hair. They use a lot of products and are very proud of it. That's ok of course, and I would be shocked if some of my friends cut their hair, as they belong to that type of women. Another thing is men. I know that most of the guys I know prefer long haired girls. It's just something I seem to hear quite a lot. For me it was just another reason to become short haired, as I didn't want to feel dependant on a man's judging. At least that's what I tried to tell myself when my sub- consciousness proved me wrong.

I remember a dream I had about two weeks after I went to the hairdresser's. I was wearing very baggy clothes and as I said, was short haired, when a male friend of mine got up to me. I wanted to hug him as usually, but instead of hugging me, he punched me in the shoulder. After that he went on, poking me and hitting me and I just did not understand why he treated me like that. At some point I stepped away a bit and asked him what was wrong. He then told me that, if I wanted to be treated like a girl, then I should look like one too. I can't remember what happened next, but those words shocked me a lot. Why did I care so much about that deep down?

Another point where I realized how important it is to men is when I was at a friend's birthday party. At first there were many people but in the end just four people stayed for an all-nighter, namely her, her boyfriend, a male friend of them and me. At some point my friend's boyfriend said that he really liked long haired girls, and that for his taste mine was too short. He wasn't being rude, it's his opinion and taste, but it still kind of got to me, especially because I then thought back to that dream, and many conversations I had with my male friends about that topic. Of course I don't need to please my friend's boyfriend, but hearing that you don't look good from a guy is... well it isn't good for my pride.

Last but not least, even though it seems like I need to correct myself, meaning I do care what my hair looks like, I still can't stop myself from trying out new styles and colours, ignoring the fact that men might not like it. I am a redhead now, slightly purple in it, with a self cut fringe that is a bit crooked. To be honest the colour looks odd but I love it. Sadly guy feedback these days is rare, except for my father who told me it was ugly and a friend who once said that he disliked red hair. Oh well, I might one day find a guy who just accepts my hair choices anyway, or I'll die forever alone, whatever :P

Cheerio

Dear Society, screw you

Disclaimer: Society is for me a universal voice, but like a statistic, it isn't one person alone, but the mass of people in the world.

As I already said, I don't have a job, and as a person doing a gap year I should either be working, traveling or doing something useful. Well I obviously don't. So when it comes to meeting an old friend with whom I haven't caught up for a while and I get asked what I'm up to at the moment the situation gets difficult.

Usually I start with the fact that I graduated Highschool (in Switzerland you have to go to school for at least nine years. Going to Highschool and doing twelve years is an option; the other possibility is an on-the-job apprenticeship which is equally accepted). The fact that I graduated and that I am allowed to go to university is on the plus side.

Of course the other person is interested what I study. Taking a year off is ok, people nod in agreement when I say that. After that the worst comes. "So, what do you then? “ That's the moment when I awkwardly stare at my feet but answering is still inevitable. I start with saying that I worked a bit in summer and then I start mumbling about not having a job. People then get that look on their faces, pity mixed with something else, something that makes me feel bad for not being part of the well oiled machine that is society.

Sometimes I don't even know what's worse anymore. Is it the fact that I'm not satisfied with my own life, how I'm living it, or is it that I get those looks every time my friends and sometimes even strangers give me. 

That's not the only place where I and society do not get together. I already said in the post about my believes. I get a marked stupid as soon I say that for me it's obvious that there's a god. I get weird looks from some of my friends because I'm not into science, that I'm more of a philosophy and psychology person. You need to calculate chances to survive these days, but I don't want to, I want to be alive, not just working. I seem always to be a little odd, a little out of place, not very much, not that I'm an outcast, but just not quite right. 

It just seems that we all should be perfect pretty people, just following the same path everybody else already did, not trying, but succeeding in everything we lay our hands on. As if there was no other way of living than 'that one'.

So I decided to ignore what society tells me, and that I want to filter what kind of advice people around me give. They can help, but in the end, we all go through life on our own. I have to get up and look in the mirror, knowing all I'll do today is spending time writing and I'll for sure enjoy that, even though I don't get money from that. It's on me, not on them!