# Would you change gender, temporarily, if you had the power? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125 "2004-01-18T17:08:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/21 "2004-01-19T01:38:43Z")
Only if the genie would throw really big hooters into the equation. And I don’t think I’d like to be menstruating during my short time as a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/22 "2004-01-19T01:42:12Z")
Nah. I mean, look where it got Ranma… ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/23 "2004-01-19T05:57:58Z")
Oh yeah. I wanna see what’s so special about having a penis. I mean, I like it when it’s on him, but it’s gotta be some kinda great to deal with the hassle of having it just chill out there 95% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/24 "2004-01-20T04:32:57Z")
I most certainly would take the opportunity to be a man-- as long as I’m a normal sized man, not me, at 5’0", as a man. I think I’d have a great time and learn a lot. Who wouldn’t want to try it, especially if it were just for a few days or so? A Teiresias escapade could be quite fun. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/25 "2004-01-20T04:45:27Z")
I would for the days I’m menstruating. Not only to get out of that hassle but to see what sex would be like with a manroot attached instead of a manroot inside 😃 . Also to see how fast, as a guy, I could shower and get ready to go out because some days… I really take forever :rolleyes: . I’d be able to have short hair without my SO complaining (I mean, I _can_ cut my hair now but my hunny likes long hair on me _pout_). It would be interesting but I enjoy being female very much. Except on _those_ days. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/26 "2004-01-20T08:07:09Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > I most certainly would take the opportunity to be a man-- as long as I’m a normal sized man, not me, at 5’0", as a man. . . . Exactly! If I could be a man for a month and get the genes that I probably would have gotten if I had been XY instead of XX, then I’d so do it. In my family, the guys are always tall – my dad’s the shortest one at 5’11.5". I’m a mewly 5’2", whilst my younger brothers ring in at 6’2 and 6’3, and they’re both still growing. I’ve grown maybe a half-inch in the past 7 years, but that might be my hair. Aside from being able to see on top of the fridge, I think it would quite interesting to see how the other half lives. I’d like to know what it’s like to be able to look like or wear anything, without anyone looking down their nose and saying, “Oh, she’d look so much better if blah blah blah.” Or being able to play video games for hours, without my mother worrying that I’m not being social enough and wasting my time, despite the fact that my youngest brother has spent the last ten years of his life doing the exact same thing. Yeah, it’d be great to gain a whole new perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/27 "2004-01-20T09:15:21Z")
I’d do it, if only to experience multiple orgasms. I probably wouldn’t enjoy the hassle of a period, but I think I’d get through it. I’d like to see how society treats a woman in the same situations I’ve been in as a man. I’d take that perspective back with me and learn a lot from it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/28 "2004-01-20T11:36:34Z")
Sure, I’d give it a try, as long as it was guaranteed to be reversible. Would I have _the mind_ of a woman though? (in which case would I still really be me?) ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/29 "2004-01-20T11:41:04Z")
Oh yeah, I’d love to know what it feels like. For half a day or so only. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/30 "2004-01-20T12:14:30Z")
Sure, I’d do it provided somebody else buys all the ladies clothing to go with the body. Mind you I’m 6’5" so it’s going to cost ya. But it would be interesting to see how people treat me differently. I hope I don’t intimidate them though. Although I’m one of those dopers who has had some sense of it since my username is feminine. Boy, some men must have their flirt posts ready to go in a macro for maximum exposure. "Boobs"_ **BANG!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/31 "2004-01-20T12:36:54Z")
I’ve often said that I wish I could trade places with Mr. Ujest. I want to know what it would be like to be given commands by the hanging brain. I want him to know what it is like to have female thoughts. I really want to wear those pants but they don’t fit. I’m so fat. They’d fit better if I’d just work out but frankly, that would take thirty minutes a day and…I’m so tired …If I lost weight I wouldn’t be tired and have more energy, but in order to have energy I have to lose weight. Catch 22’s just suck. Speaking of suck, the floor needs to be vaccuumed. I should clean house more, but frankly, I don’t have the energy for it because I’m so fat and I really want to wear those pants that I haven’t since Clinton was Govenor…and what in the hell did he ever see in Paula Jones…I mean her voice is so irriatating. She must have a nice rack. Speaking of Racks, mine are wobblier than usual today…my period must be coming…I have this insatiable urge to eat carbs all day… He’d go mad within moments, I’m sure. Me, OTOH, as a 250 knuckle dragging manly man, I would take this rare opportunity to move furniture and organize his workshop _like it should be_. But, I’m sure I would end up before the TV in my underpants watching ESPN 1-1000 in a haze of masculinity whilst uncontrollably flicking through the channels looking for boobage or violence. Not that I’m generalizing here. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Bee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Larry\_Bee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Bee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/32 "2004-01-20T13:21:18Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Me, OTOH, as a 250 knuckle dragging manly man, I would take this rare opportunity to move furniture and organize his workshop _like it should be_. Maybe you’d realise the reason it is the way it is now…? ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/33 "2004-01-20T14:09:21Z")
Well, I wouldn’t say now, but what are the conditions? Am I going to get any training? There are all kinds of woman-stuff that I just don’t know. Like, what if I had to go out: I have no idea about make-up! And, if I had to change for a month, I’d better have someone teach me about the finer points of menstruation, because I’m a bit sketchy beyond the basic, biological aspects. In short, along with my newfound womanhood, would I get the experience a woman of my age has, or would I have to play it be ear? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/34 "2004-01-20T14:23:32Z")
> [@gex gex](#): > > Well, I wouldn’t say now, but what are the conditions? Oh, come now, you’ve seen enough episodes of \*The Twilight Zone[/i[ to figure _that_ out. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/35 "2004-01-20T16:23:14Z")
Yes, I would. Most definitely. I think that men have it just as bad as we do, just differently. I know men have their own culture, unspoken signs and signals, and varying meanings attached to the spoken, depending on tone, inflection, timing, etc. I’d love to learn “man language”. What are you guys _really_ communicating when you’re all hanging out in the bosses office??? Can I ask a good male friend to go thru it with me, so we can trade panicked midnight calls? (No, you don’t have food poisoning. Those are cramps. BTW, how do I “adjust” discreetly on the bus? Gawd, this thing is a pain in the ass.) More than anything, I’d like to have the experience of a man’s emotional life for a month. Do you all really experience love, pain, loneliness, pride, happiness, etc.? What’s that like for you? But then I’d definitely want to go back to being a woman. If I have to choose between a man’s set of constrictions/freedoms and a woman’s, I’ll choose a woman’s. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/36 "2004-01-20T18:07:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sure, I’d give it a try, as long as it was guaranteed to be reversible. That’s an interesting twist. Would y’all do it if there were only a 50% chance of it being reversible? I think I would take the experience even with the 50% odds. Although I look rather manly-man, I’m rather androgynous in behavior so it wouldn’t make much difference in many aspects of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/37 "2004-01-20T18:12:48Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Although I look rather manly-man, I’m rather androgynous in behavior so it wouldn’t make much difference in many aspects of my life. Ummm, not to move this into Great Debates, but _yes_, it _would_. Really. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/38 "2004-01-20T18:30:02Z")
Do I get to wear really nice lingerie? What do my nails look like? Can I be bisexual? I’m not on my period, am I? Do I have to get a pelvic exam from the gyno? Can I still fart? Is a brazillian wax in my future? These are all questions I, as an aspiring woman, need to have answered before I’ll say one way or another (even though the multiple orgasms sounds like a pretty good deal, I’m already capable of repeat performances on pretty short notice). ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/39 "2004-01-20T20:19:19Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Ummm, not to move this into Great Debates, but _yes_, it _would_. Really. I’m certain that you’ve misunderstood my point. Or rather, that I was unclear. Changing gender would certainly affect my life in many, major ways - probably far more than I can imagine. However, my meaning was that in many aspects of my life I go against gender stereotypes already. In those cases, such as crying at emotional movies, attending Pampered Chef Parties and liking to shop at Michael’s, it wouldn’t affect me much. I suspect in a few cases my behavior would be more acceptable if I were a woman. For instance, reaction to me painting my fingernails would certainly be less if I were a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/40 "2004-01-20T20:42:15Z")
Point taken. I certainly don’t want this thread to devolve into Great Debates (though it might be interesting to see how we could veer it into Cafe Society!). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125.md?page=3)