# Have You Ever Considered Being the Opposite Sex? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012 "2001-03-14T21:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/1 "2001-03-14T21:50:05Z")
Just curious about this; my SO and I were just sitting around, shooting the breeze, and I asked him if he had ever considered what it would be like to be a woman. His answer; emphatic, immediate “No.” Now, I have considered what it would be like to be a man, and have wondered how things would be different for me. Have any of you considered what it would be like or actually wished you were the opposite sex? I’m curious if there is a difference between male and female reactions to this idea. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/2 "2001-03-14T22:23:22Z")
Would I consider being male instead of female? Let’s see…I wouldn’t have to spend my life 20 pounds under my ideal weight to be considered attractive; I could look like Jack Nicholson and still be considered “sexy”; in all likelyhood, men would actually look me in the eye and would no longer have conversations with my chest; I could f\*\*k around with impunity and not be a slut; no one would mistake me for a secretary or call me “hon” on the phone; I could walk down the street without having obnoxious creeps yell at me from their cars (does this actaully work for these guys? Have any of them ever gotten a date that way?); I could walk to my car (or anywhere else) after dark without the real threat of a sexual assault; I could earn a salary 30% higher than my female counterparts. Yeah, I think I could handle that. ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/3 "2001-03-14T22:27:37Z")
Yeah, I’ve thought about it. It would be interesting to see things from the other side of the fence, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/4 "2001-03-14T22:39:16Z")
I think any person with any imagination must have tried to consider what it’s like to be the opposite sex – for all sorts of reasons, and in all kinds of ways. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/5 "2001-03-14T22:43:24Z")
I have occasionally speculated what It would like to be female, mainly from the perspective of **having my own boobies**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/6 "2001-03-14T22:44:52Z")
Sometimes I think I would like to have a penis. ::Breaks into song:: Isn’t it awfully nice to have a penis, Isn’t it frightfully good to have a dong… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/7 "2001-03-14T23:05:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hypergirl \* > \*\*Sometimes I think I would like to have a penis. ::Breaks into song:: > > Isn’t it awfully nice to have a penis, > Isn’t it frightfully good to have a dong… \*\* And if I were to get myself a penis, I’d be sure and make it really, really long… (Oh my, where did _that_ come from?) ---
**Author:** ![dodge\_this](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@dodge\_this](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dodge_this)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/8 "2001-03-14T23:26:20Z")
Well, I did think ‘How nice it would be if I were a man right now’ ONCE when I had to go to the loo real bad and there was a long queue outside the women’s room and not the men’s…Don’t ask me why I just didn’t wish for more women’s loos instead. D’oh! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/9 "2001-03-14T23:44:38Z")
A bunch of us were musing on just this subject not long ago. I personally like being a female and think males unfortunate in many ways. Their few small advantages are mostly social, whereas mine are largely biological…multiple orgasms, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/10 "2001-03-14T23:49:35Z")
I consider this every single day. A lot of men do. It’s not necessarily about sexuality, but it may have something to do with male minds automatically liking females better, and somehow short-circuiting that into wanting to be one. However the roles of the sexes are shifting, and there’ll always be a bit of envy as traditional models get swapped around. Thus as a heterosexual man I find myself wishing I were allowed as much vulnerability as I want without being considered a wuss (I can’t go hang out with similar men, though, because they’re WUSSIES, obviously). And the assertiveness which “comes naturally” to a man via testosterone would become a fashionable plus as a woman, rather than something to be ashamed of. Of course it would no longer be there because the testosterone would no longer be there, but such fantasies aren’t generally very well thought-out. Just pondered while waiting at traffic lights. So don’t jump down my throat over whether it’s fashionable for women to be assertive, either. That’s all just an honest relation of my individual subconscious instincts. I’m certainly not claiming to be RIGHT, just HUMAN. ## I suspect the ignition of this spiralling desire may well lie not too far from the desire for a private pair of boobies. “In heaven they will be like the angels, neither male nor female…” ---
**Author:** ![todaystomsawyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@todaystomsawyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todaystomsawyer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/11 "2001-03-15T00:43:51Z")
I can honestly say I’ve never thought about being a woman instead of a man. Could’nt tell you why, the thought has just never entered my mind. And I guess that’s all I have to say about that. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/12 "2001-03-15T00:49:41Z")
Sure, I’ve speculated occasionally. Mostly I wonder at what it would be like to hang out in all-male social groups and see how they behave, rather like an anthropologist observing a strange tribe. Just to have your own breasts? Trust me, once you’ve got 'em, they cease to be the most fascinating things in the world. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/13 "2001-03-15T01:03:38Z")
YES. Ross pretty much covered the main reasons for it, so I don’t need to elaborate. But ooh, girls get to wear pretty clothes… Of course, after a while, you get accustomed to being what you are. If I woke up female tomorrow, I’d have some serious adjusting to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Sue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Sweet\_Sue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Sue)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/14 "2001-03-15T01:24:21Z")
\*\*sub         [/sub]O         º       sub)[/sub]         +         A         " \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/15 "2001-03-15T17:27:48Z")
Hmm, looks like this is a very individual thing (like most things). Some people do think about it, others just don’t. I guess my SO and I are both normal, after all (well, as close to normal as we’re going to get 😃 ). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/16 "2001-03-15T18:24:34Z")
I’ve always found it really annoying that I don’t get to be an “exchange student” for a couple years somewhere along the line. I’ve also, on many occasions, wished that I could subject this or that specific female to the experience of being male for, oh, maybe a year or so so she’d develop some goddam empathy. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/17 "2001-03-15T18:40:24Z")
I do have penis envy. Don’t get me wrong, I like having boobs. In fact, close friends may tell you I’m obsessed with ‘my girls’. But, oh to have a schlong… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/18 "2001-03-15T20:00:01Z")
I think every guy has considered being a gal upon hearing that women can have multiple consecutive orgasms… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/19 "2001-03-15T23:49:43Z")
I’ve often wished I could be a man for a week, or that my SO and I could change bodies for some specific period of time. I think it would be really cool to see how people react differently because of the switched gender. I think this is a pretty normal urge, considering how many pieces of fiction there are on just this subject. Robert A. Heinlein’s _Fear no Evil_ and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story about a woman who becomes her husband. ---
**Author:** ![celestina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@celestina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/celestina)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2001, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012/20 "2001-03-16T02:55:05Z")
I like being a girl far too much to ever want to be a guy [celestina flips her hair, turns and leaves.] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-considered-being-the-opposite-sex/58012.md?page=2)