# Come Back, Shane!(or Shanna) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839 "2003-05-03T11:52:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/1 "2003-05-03T11:52:00Z")
Premise-you die and it is made known to you that you are to be reincarnated. The only choice you have is your sex. Do you pick male or female? ---
**Author:** ![phraser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e4f/32.png) [@phraser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phraser)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/2 "2003-05-03T12:00:31Z")
You mean we only get those two choices? :eek: I wanna be what I am now. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/3 "2003-05-03T12:05:06Z")
Do I get to remember what I was before? Either way, I’d likely go with being a guy. I’ve been a girl - I know all about the aches, the leaks…all of it except for menopause and pregnancy. So why not check out what it’s like to be a guy for the next life? ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/4 "2003-05-03T13:05:14Z")
Hmm, I’d have to go with male again. I’m usually too scared to try anything different ---
**Author:** ![j\_kat\_251](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@j\_kat\_251](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_kat_251)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/5 "2003-05-03T13:10:08Z")
I’d be a Shazza (subtle in-joke) this time 'round. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/6 "2003-05-03T13:27:54Z")
Guy again. It hasn’t been that bad, and there are some female things I’m _not_ all that curious about. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/7 "2003-05-03T15:07:28Z")
If I knew for sure that I was going to be reincarnated as a twenty-first century western-world sort of person, definitely female. Otherwise male. I like being a chick, but not if I have to live in Saudi Arabia. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/8 "2003-05-03T16:07:53Z")
I just want to come back knowing what I know now. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/9 "2003-05-03T16:17:41Z")
If we get to remember what we were before: I’d like to try being a male. If we don’t remember anything: A female. I like being female. But **Fret** makes a real good point–if we didn’t get an choice in where and when we’d come back, I’d have to go with male. In most societies, it’s been better to be a male. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/10 "2003-05-03T17:30:45Z")
Well, as the first-born child, I was _supposed_ to be a boy, so if I got a do-over, I’d go that route. What I’d love to see is what my life would have been had I been born a boy. I’m pretty sure my parents would have done some things differently because of the societal mindset of my formative years. Would I have joined the Navy as a boy? Would I have studied engineering? Would I have left home at 19? Would I have learned to fly? The world will never know. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/11 "2003-05-03T19:47:58Z")
A guy for the next time. With my run of luck, I’d end up being a eunuch. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/12 "2003-05-03T20:06:34Z")
Male. Again. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/13 "2003-05-04T15:23:51Z")
If I get to remember my previous life, I think I’d like to try being a girl. If I don’t, then how is it “me”? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/14 "2003-05-04T20:35:46Z")
My mum and I were having this very same discussion yesterday, after moaning about the respective lack of domestic skills of her husband and my sons. We both decided that in our next life, we were picking the blue box instead of the pink. Then I reminded her that our femaleness in _this_ life was probably punishment some heinous sin (like not cleaning the shower) living as blokes in our previous incarnation. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/15 "2003-05-04T21:15:43Z")
Well, I know precisely how I fucked up last time (may not have been the last time, but the only time I have any memories of – I’ve alluded to it any number of times in past posts), and what I’m doing this time around, including my entire on-line presence, is attempting to work off the karma from back then. Next time? I’m hoping there won’t be one – that I can get off the merry-go-round this trip. ---
**Author:** ![Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smashed_Ice_Cream)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-back-shane-or-shanna/172839/16 "2003-05-05T06:16:23Z")
I’d definitely stay female. I don’t want those extra dangly parts to deal with.