I'm just a girl....

This is what I wore AFTER I changed out of the leather skirt from the last post!  I was FREEZING!
JACKET:  Doncaster, inherited from my mom (why don't I wear this more?!), SCARF:  gift from my sweet husband, JEANS:  Kenneth Cole via TJ Maxx, WEDGES:  BCBG thrifted, SWEATER: Same as here, GAP thrifted.

Today I read an article about a couple who did not reveal the gender of their child for five years.  It seems that they believe that gender is societally imposed and did not want that for their child.  What was interesting about their choice, however, is that they allowed the child (turned out to be a boy) to choose whatever he wanted to wear with the exception of  "hyper-masculine outfits like skull-print shirts".  He WAS allowed to wear a shiny pink girl's swimsuit though.


How much does the role of gender play in what we wear?  For me, it plays a HUGE part!  I'm a girly girl through and through, albeit, MY interpretation of girly girl (I don't wear ruffles); but still dedicated feminine.    When I get dressed, part of the whole experience is that I FEEL so very womanly.  Whether its the fit, the style, the parts making up the whole; I'm really looking for that feminine experience.


Without forming too much judgment over something that's basically none of my business; this article intrigued me.  We really aren't an androgynous society.  And even when women wear men's wear inspired clothing; they still bring their feminine form to it.  Think Marlene Dietrich.  Known for her penchant for masculine clothes, she was still decidedly feminine!

Source

My mom used to tell me that when I was a little girl, I used to cry when she tried to put me in pants.  I LOVED dresses!  One of my earliest memories was of my sister and I going shopping for Easter dresses and matching purses (another accessory that I've always had a weakness for!).  


I don't remember anyone really TELLING me, "Serene, you're a girl!".  I just KNEW.  A couple of years later, my older sister and grandmother teasingly tried to convince me that I was really a boy, but that my father wanted a little girl so badly that they dressed me up in girls' clothes and pretended that I was one!  I actually BELIEVED them!  I didn't understand at that young age the anatomical difference in genders.  All I knew was that there was a marked difference between boys and girls and I REALLY wanted to be a girl!


Apart from traditional gender roles, do you think it's possible to be truly gender neutral.  To just embrace EVERYTHING?  I don't think I buy this.  Because it seems like all of us break to one gender or the other; either physically or mentally.   


Do you enjoy dressing "feminine" and what IS your idea of feminine dress?  Would love to hear your thoughts on this!