What, that doesn’t get you singing, “Man, I feel like a woman”? 
Yeah, right there, that’s enough reason for not wanting to switch from male to female.
But I’d like to be able to be in a woman’s body for a weekend, just to check it out, with the caveats that I’d want the body in question to be roughly the equivalent of mine in age, health and fitness, and looks. I’d make sure I had sex toys, lingerie, and a video camera on hand, and then I’d take that body for a spin.
I used to occasionally feel curious about what it would be like to be a woman. For instance, I don’t have any interest in cross dressing but have envied the clothing choices women have- they’re not limited to just shirt/pants. They have so many more categories of things to wear- not just dresses and skirts, but sexy dresses and skirts, or plain-, or business-, or casual-, or summer-, etc. Men have a suit. Business? Suit. Casual? Suit with no tie. (:rolleyes:). Summer? Lightweight suit. Big whoop.
And multiple orgasms would be a hoot.
I happened to have been considering this very issue just yesterday. Not coincidentally, I was taking a piss at the time. My conclusion was that I felt being male had all the advantages and I couldn’t think of any reason why I’d want to switch.
Well, here’s a white male who completely agrees with you. I mean, I don’t know if “power” is quite how I’d describe it, but yes, there are perks that go along with being in the majority. Of course, I don’t advocate the imbalance of this “power,” but as Bruce Hornsby once said, that’s just the way it is. And it’s probably true no matter where you are.
I didn’t vote in the poll yet. Like many of the other posters I’ve wondered what it would be like to be the other gender (the other gender being male in my case). I would definitely try it for a weekend if it were free and totally reversible. Does that rise to the level of “occasionally”?
Growing up it never crossed my mind for a second that it would be fun to be a boy. I thought it was blindingly obvious to everyone that girls were smarter and just plain better. Who would want to be a dumb old boy?
One thing about being male that looks like it totally sucks is the whole jockeying for position with other males, with challenges, subtle or otherwise, coming from the other guys whether you want to play that game or not.
No. I am happy being male.
Walk a mile in his shoes before you assume what his life is like.
Your first statement really does fall under “the grass is always greener on the other side,” type of thinking.
I got your cheese right here, Mika.
Anaamika, for an brown girl you sure are garnering a lot of attention. If politics is any kind of barometer, the attention itself is the power, not whether its positive or otherwise. Perhaps you are underestimating your place? White dudes fear people like you simply because you possess the race and gender cards.
That said. I wouldn’t wanna be a girl because boys are gross.
I can’t see the options bc I’m on an iPod. So, forgive me if this is an option, but do we get to pick how attractive we’d get to be as a member of the opposite sex? I know it’s shallow and all that, but I would be way more interested in being a beautiful young woman for a week than being a plain, older woman. Unless, of course, that woman were Angela Merkel or something.
I’m female, straight, and have often wanted to be male. It’s not about any kind of perceived power or privilege–I just often feel more male than female. I used to wonder if I was transgendered, but came to the conclusion that what I really am is androgynous: I don’t really want to be male (wouldn’t want the dangly bits), but I don’t much like being female either. I like to take the best of both worlds and just be me. I think my best reasonable compromise is to work out to lose weight so I can look more like a boyish woman. And that’s what I’m doing. I guess “genderqueer” is a pretty good label for me.
Is there something I’m missing out on I don’t know about? Some ‘card’, as you say, that I could play and turn my life around with the drop of a hat? C’mon, guys, don’t hold out on me, this isn’t fair! 
What, you wanna’ trade? I should warn you first, I have no money, my family’s in debt up to our eyeballs, I’ve spent the last ten years (give or take) prancing around with my brother trying to start a business or get into a trade of some kind which all failed miserably mostly 'cause we weren’t “privileged” and he refused to settle on just a regular job merely because of the"break out of the mold" syndrome, and now that the economy has tanked there’s not even a hope of finding a job, so now I’m simply fucked. I edit video for chicken feed (why do I feel Russian saying that?) and have been forced to move back in with my parents, like so many others my age.
What size are your shoes? I hope they aren’t heels 'cause I’m clueless as how to walk in them…
You should never criticize, condemn, or judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes!!!
That way, when you DO sass them, you’re a mile away from them… and you’ve got their SHOES!
Heck, come to think of it, it’d be pretty sweet if I could be a really attractive or powerful MAN for a week for a change hehe. So basically I’d just like to see what it’s like to be beautiful, but I’ll live. Plus, I’d be wary that there would be some sort of horrible catch.
If it’s basically that as a woman I would have equivalent levels of looks, power, intelligence, etc… Then yeah, I would be curious to see in what ways people would treat me differently.
Are people nicer or more polite or friendlier to women rather than men? Is that just for meeting people as strangers, or also people I already know, as friends. What about how I am treated by other women?
Sometimes it seems like young hot women out in public are ALWAYS having random stranger guys come up to them and making small talk, cracking jokes, etc, generously always offering them free stuff. Whereas, at least in New England, strangers don’t usually talk to me, a young man, unless they are crazy or want money. I wonder if the world and people in general would seem way nicer / friendlier.
For instance, I am 6’4 200 lbs, age 27, male… Last sunday night i was walking down the street at night to get milk. It was dark out, 8 pm. i was cold so i had on a dark hoodie and winter hat. When a woman up the street saw me coming, she crossed the street so that she wouldn’t have to pass me on the sidewalk. Somehow, i doubt that would’ve happened were i a woman. Indeed, if i were, I would’ve probably have crossed too upon seeing what she saw. Walking the street alone at night must be a lot scarier for a woman. Also, would I want to be harassed every second by strangers and old men hitting on me?
I’ve sometimes been curious about how life is different for women, some things I couldn’t know without experiencing it myself for an extended period of time, but I’ve never actually wanted to be one.
Occassionally wanted to be male is a little strong.
But you can count me in the group of females who sometimes wishes she didn’t have to deal with having a period, and all that that entails. And yet is insufficiently bothered to seek out hormonal solutions to the problem.
And, well, I can’t help but wonder if my life would have been different if I’d been male. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt like getting a PhD was a waste of time, and I’d have a PhD and a good job using it, or various other things.
But some of that really falls under the "if I’d known then what I know now . . . " and isn’t neccessarily related to being male or female.
It would be interesting for me to change genders for a bit. sometimes I do things that it wouldn’t be wise to do as a female.
For instance, all the (large and potentially intimidating) men, complete strangers, and once a homeless lady, I’ve gotten in a car with alone, both as a passenger and the driver to give or get rides.
The instance that I needed a roommate, so I just posted an ad on craigslist and had some complete stranger from haiti move in and I never thought twice about feeling safe.
Going out alone to meet up with strangers I met on match.com.
I’m sure there must be other stuff too that I do as a large, cashless, young man that might be decidedly unwise for a young lady to do. I’d be interested to gain that perspective temporarily.
Not counting the heat-ray vision, of course.
Ah, thinking with his pants down. Spoken like a man.
White, middle-aged, anglophones in Ottawa, Ontario can pretty much expect to be discounted from just about every municipal, provincial, or federal job.