As a child I never really thought my gender was affected me, but thinking back now I can see how maybe, for me and my childhood, it could have.

From the ages of about 5 to 10 or 11 I was such a tomboy, my best friends were all boys and I loved going out and playing football or mucking about in my garden and my street, which usually resulted in me coming home covered in mud or some sort of dirt. I loved searching in bushes and under rocks for snails or slaters or any other type of bug that I could take home with me as a pet and I hated anything that was pink! At the time it seemed totally fine for people to say I acted like a boy or wasn’t very ‘girly’ but now I can’t help but wonder why it is that people class boys as the ones who enjoy playing out doors and getting messy and why people assume that all girls want to stay clean and tidy and love the colour pink. Surely these things are more a matter of personal choice rather than whether you are a boy or a girl?

Looking back now, I wouldn’t say my gender necessarily ‘affected’ me as a child, I was never upset or bothered by people saying I acted like a boy and it certainly never made me want to change myself and become more ‘girly’, but thinking about it has made me wonder why these stereotypes are here and where they came from and makes me want to find a way to help break them down for the future generations I will be teaching.