Nothing like a bit of gender stereotyping. You'd never find me in a photo like this though. I didn't like girly things at all. My maternal instincts extended to animals only. I had a favourite teddy bear and despised dolls and dresses. I was crazy about bicycles, trampolines, climbing trees, being upside down on the monkey bars, fossicking in car wrecks, swimming in the sea until my skin wrinkled and I was shivering with cold and building bush cubbies - which included large underground excavations and makeshift treehouses.
I often freaked out my poor mother bringing home a variety of creepy crawlies, including long necked tortoises, dead rats, frogs balanced on my head and even a tiger snake one day - held proudly against my chest (for international readers tiger snakes will kill if you don't get the antivenene in time).
Looking back - although my family life was pretty miserable - I was lucky to have a feral childhood in the Aussie bush sans hovering parents. I think it was the 'making of me' in many ways.
Photo - can't remember if I found it at Historic Albany's Facebook page or not. Unfortunately I've lost the link.
Pretty much the same here, except it was my mum who brought the creepy crawlies to school to show the other kids. She brought in a mummified bobtail once and all the town kids were grossed out, while we thought it a marvel.
ReplyDeleteI too would have loved that mummified bobtail Sarah Toa.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't much of a "play with dolls" kind of child. I liked running and track meets, jumping fences, and looking under rocks. When I was growing up girls had to wear skirts or dresses to school until I was a senior in high school. Then the dress code changed. I think I can count on one hand how many times I've had a skirt or dress on since then. LOL!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I actually think the right sort of pants are more modest and practical for girls anyway.
DeleteWell, if you survived a tiger snake, then everything else is a bonus! While I did have some dolls, like you I preferred being outside building forts, go-carts, playing ball with the other kids. I loved camping, backpacking and generally just getting away from it all. It was formative for me as well.
ReplyDeleteYes, camping....anything to do with nature is good.
DeleteI think my mother is still annoyed that I would undress a doll and leave it lying naked and abandoned!
ReplyDeleteI did love a swirly dress though and still love some very feminine designs though I don't wear them because orthopaedic shoes don't really do justice to a pretty dress.
Nature, books, tv and just dreaming out the window were all my favourite activities and though I was hopeless with dolls I adored my kids
Haha that's funny Kylie. Maybe you were a nudist at heart. Yes not playing with dolls isn't a prerequisite for not being maternal. I guess I'm pretty maternal with my students and animals, though with my students I am tough. I often remind them I'm not their mother and they need to take responsibility for their acions and choices.
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