Nicole's Gender Bio

When I was younger, all I did was follow my brother around. He started playing basketball and 5, so I started playing basketball at 5. When he went into baseball, I played softball. My dad was always into sports growing up, so he encouraged us when we wanted to pick up different sports, and both my mom and dad would come support me in whatever sport I was playing. Though my parents didn't push gender roles onto us, my mom did try to make me a little more girly. She put me in ballet and tap classes at a young age and dressed me up in dresses and nice shoes for school. Finally, she gave up when she realized that I only participated in the dance classes because one of my best friends was in the class as well, and she stopped putting me in dresses when she saw that I would come home from school with dirt on my dress and shoes because I liked to play tag with the boys. I was a tomboy through and through, though my room said differently. Collectible barbies still in their boxes lined my bookshelves and at least 50 stuffed animals could be found in my room. Most were presents from Christmas and birthdays, but it was the one thing that was girly in my life, and I liked it. Eventually I found my way out of my tomboy stage, and I dress more girly, though I would still pick jeans and a t-shirt over a skirt or dress any day. My barbies have now found their way multiple boxes in my garage, but I plan to keep them for a long time, and the stuffed animal collection has been cut down from 5o to about 30. I still play basketball, and now my whole family plays golf, because it is the one sport where gender does not matter for us. On a good day, I can beat everyone in my family, but on a bad day, my brother or dad will beat me. I think it was good that my parents didn't push gender roles on us, because it has made us closer as a family.