Shannon's Gender Biography

Ever since I was a little girl, I seemed to be a fearless child, always running around with the boys yet portraying a “girly” image. When I was three years old, I took my first trip of many to Yosemite National Park. My dad had taken this vacation every spring with his friends and finally the children were old enough to go, so all the dads decided to make it a father-son trip. My dad did not have a son, so I was the only girl to go. Although I dressed in outfits covered with “Pocahontas” and “Minnie Mouse,” I spent my days on the trip climbing rocks and playing baseball with the boys. Every year after, we took the same Yosemite trip, but soon the mothers and daughters joined in. I still spent all my time with the boys and took more interest in hiking and adventures than all the other children. As I grew older, I took interest in lots of stereotypical feminine activities, such as dance, singing, horseback riding, and playing with Barbies, but I still had my father’s influence in the more masculine activities because he did not care to be involved in the activities I already liked and he wanted another way to connect with me. I was encouraged to watch sports from a young age, especially football. Once I began to understand the game, I took great interest in it. Though I was still very feminine, I absolutely loved the game and to this day I will spend the entire Sunday watching NFL football. This interest also came from my mom who was highly athletic, yet still very feminine. For my whole life I have always looked up to her and wanted to be similar to her, as so many daughters see their mothers as role models. When I was about four years old, I became an older sister and as both daughters grew up, I began to realize our differences. My sister Lauren was full of crying and complaints and very dependent, while I was very independent. Lauren always looked up to me for clothes, but never for my interest in sports. My dad never really pushed her into it because he saw her as more sensitive like him, and me as emotionally stronger, like my mother. This was also my downfall once my parents got divorced because my father did not like to see me as my mother, strong and independent. As I grew apart from my father, my mother became even more of a role model. She worked so hard to support me and succeed on her own, and I look up to her so much as a mother who has sacrificed so much for her children, yet portrays a powerful, independent image for herself.