Share this story:
We all know the standards for being a guy and being a girl. As a guy, you are looked at to be masculine, muscular and strong. As a girl, you should seem petite, care for your appearance and not rely on yourself. Being at school and hearing gender stereotypes many times makes it easier and more common to comment on it in a bad way. In my PE class, I would hear the different standard ability levels for a guy and for a girl. Doing push ups, guys would have to do 9 or higher while a girl could just do 7 or higher and my friends and I would feel like it was unfair. The flexibility range for guys would be lower than for a girl because stereotypically, guys are less flexible than girls.
At school, I experience a lot of stories told about girls being on their periods and how it’s easy for guys because they don’t have to deal with this type of thing. On the other hand, guys talk about how they have to hear all these expectations for them and sometimes pretend to not care because they have to keep their masculinity and stay strong like they are told to be. Sometimes it’s easy for men but sometimes it’s extremely difficult because a guy’s exterior appearance can show strength and it be totally different from his interior which could show sensitivity.
Even though some know that these opinions are distorted, they still think they have it harder than the opposite sex mainly because they believe they have the right reasons. I know it’s easy to be a girl and sometimes it’s hard. Difficult times like having to find the perfect outfit, putting on your makeup, or overall just looking beautiful to others, makes a girl feel like the end of the world when it doesn’t play out the way she wants. It’s hard for a girl to accept her natural beauty with all the comments that could be thrown at her at the same time.
Most of the time girls are treated weaker than guys.This comment just makes girls actually do feel weak and looked down on. With these reasons, girls could say they have it harder than guys because they are unappreciated. But the same things happen for guys. If a guy and girl are seen together hanging out, it’s more scandalizing for a guy than for a girl. So guys can say they get into tougher situations than girls, therefore making it harder on them.
What’s important is to remember that the hardship that both guys and girls experience doesn’t depend on comparisons to each other because every boy and girl live different lives. They experience situations unlike others and have problems that are unrelated to other people. I wanted to address this situation for guys and girls so they know that they aren’t the only ones. It’s key to keep in mind not to compare your problems to others.