# 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:** 3
**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:** [January 20, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/41 "2004-01-20T21:26:55Z")
I would do it for a year or two if I could decide at the end of that period whether or not to change back. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/42 "2004-01-20T22:39:50Z")
Yes, absolutely. I can’t imagine any person _not_ wanting to change genders for long enough, at least, to get a chance to find out how the other half’s bodies worked. I wouldn’t do it if there were a chance that it wouldn’t be temporary. I’d love to try out inhabiting a woman’s body, but I definitely want to stay in my own for the long haul. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/43 "2004-01-20T23:32:31Z")
Definiitely; I’d try it. Probably be naked a lot. But could I be a hot young woman instead of simply a female version of my overweight, middle-aged self? I don’t believe there are “male thoughts” and “female thoughts”. If you mentally blather on constantly about being fat, that’s just your personality; it’s not because you have two X chromosomes. ---
**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, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/44 "2004-01-20T23:33:40Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > That’s an interesting twist. Would y’all do it if there were only a 50% chance of it being reversible? Only if I got to choose to change into Audrey Tatou - anyone else and I’d want 100% certainty. [sup](joking - no, I’d not even consider it if it was the least bit uncertain)[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/45 "2004-01-21T02:11:27Z")
Would I still have a big ass? ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/46 "2004-01-21T02:40:19Z")
Heck yes. See, generally girls can’t yell, or hit someone in righteous anger. I sound like I’m squeaking when I’m yelling. But guys can SHOUT! Plus it would make it easier to flirt with chicks. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/47 "2004-01-21T04:22:50Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Any male that tells you he’d pass up the chance to have his own private boobies for a few days is lying! You don’t have to become female to have boobs. Just gain about 100 pounds the unhealthy way. Believe me, you’ll have a pair. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/48 "2004-01-21T05:39:54Z")
I’d like to be a guy for even maybe a year. It would be like a second puberty. Except this time it would be the beginning of me running up and down stairs without a bra (instead of the end like last time.) I’d grow a crazy Rollie Fingers style moustache. Then I’d trim down the sides and concentrate on volume–just getting that moustache as bushy and perpendicular as possible. The problem is I think I’d probably look a lot like my brother since he looks a lot like me but male. That means I might be completely freaked out at the sight of myself naked and be traumatized in the shower. I think I would even do it if there was only a 50% chance of turning back, like **Homebrew** suggested. I think I would. I’d have to talk to the genie about whether I was automatically going to know how to act manly. I don’t want to be a guy and still throw the way I do. That would be a bit of a monkey’s paw scenario. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/49 "2004-01-21T06:06:52Z")
Offering a man the chance to experience boobs and a vagina? You’d have to fight to get me to give them back! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/50 "2004-01-21T06:13:23Z")
> [@Angel of the Lord](#): > > Plus it would make it easier to flirt with chicks. (cough cough) If that’s really true, DAMN you lesbians and bisexual women must have it rough. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/51 "2004-01-21T08:00:39Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > Just long enough to write my name in the snow. That [can](http://www.restrooms.org/standing.html) be done. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/52 "2004-01-21T20:58:00Z")
Of course I’d switch! I usually do accept offers from genies, because I’m always afraid they’ll never offer again. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/53 "2004-01-22T19:54:38Z")
Absolutely yes. I’d jump at the chance, without hesitation. As Jane Austin said (I paraphrase, I think): One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. To that, I’d add the pain, as well. Anyway, I’d be able to handle (I think) the following new experiences: [ul] [li]Menstruation (but who knows …)[/li][li]Having to color coordinate my outfits (this would only be after learning what an “outfit” is)[/li][li]Accessorizing[/li][li]Handling all the wolf whistles and leering (I’d be a guy magnet, natch)[/li][li]The increase in birth control hassles[/li][li]Getting drunk easier, faster (and not to mention cheaper 😉 )[/li][/ul] But there’s NO freakin’ way I’d ever get used to taking my marching orders from Oprah. That apparent requirement of womanhood would eventually drive me back to Team Testosterone. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/54 "2004-01-26T01:50:14Z")
sheesh…sure gonna be a lot of ugly slutty ass women if you guys are like me. Not too bad for a guy but…brrr 5’ 9 w/ beard and muscles just wouldn’t do. Guess I could do some “pro” wrestling, heh. I could even keep my name. Now if I had a choice as to looks, hmm… I hate to say it but boys, I’d have all y’alls money. 😃 Probably make Anna N. Smith look like a school marm. Plus, I have met some damned fine lesbians I’d like to know better. 😉 Sorry y’all, just kidding I hope you know. No offense intended. Good question, I think I’ll pass. Women gotta put up with too much shit IMO. Not to mention that whole childbirth thing. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/55 "2004-01-26T02:33:54Z")
Yep, I’d try it, and I think a month sounds just about right. I’ll second the condition that we really ought to have some form of guarantee that we’d automatically feel like the other gender, as opposed to ourselves with different genitalia. I’d feel so ripped off if I had boy stuff to play with but was still stuck with my own limited non-visual fantasies! ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/56 "2004-01-26T05:16:53Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > I’ll second the condition that we really ought to have some form of guarantee that we’d automatically feel like the other gender, as opposed to ourselves with different genitalia. I’d feel so ripped off if I had boy stuff to play with but was still stuck with my own limited non-visual fantasies! Yeah, that’s the only condition I’d require as well. What’s the point of trying to answer the great questions of What It’s Really Like On The Other Side if you don’t actually get to understand the answers? ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/57 "2004-01-26T07:04:36Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > sheesh…sure gonna be a lot of ugly slutty ass women if you guys are like me. I assume the OP’s question includes a total body conversion. Facial hair would temporarily disappear. Waistline would be reshaped; height, weight, and muscle tone would adjust proportionally. Or at least those are the terms I’d insist on. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/58 "2004-01-26T07:30:57Z")
**C/B** … you just that good ol’ boy used to be Arky ain’t you? What the hell you worrying about looks for? Matter of fact… a little facial hair, knock out a couple of teeth and maybe a dip of snuff, be right up your alley. 😉 **yep, I 'membered** ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/59 "2004-01-26T08:46:12Z")
Haha. I know you’re kidding, **t-keela** , but isn’t that about par for the course. Been through 2 userids already and still people get the wrong impression. :smack: Hafta try suh’um here with the location field… hopefully that’ll help. (please bring back location fields in posts, please bring back location fields in posts, please bring back location fields in posts…) Yah, you memmered; I knew ya would. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125/60 "2004-01-26T14:20:41Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > …BTW, how do I “adjust” discreetly on the bus? Gawd, this thing is a pain in the ass. If you’re getting a pain in the ass, I’d imagine it is the “thing” belonging to the guy behind you that you should be worrying about. Truthfully, once you become comfortable that boners happen, and I mean “boner” in both popular usages that I can think of, trying to sleep w/ an erection is the only real hassle. I suppose that if I had one thing that I thought you should experience, it would be sex drive related rather than equipment related. Experiencing brain differences would certainly be a poser, IMO. If you get the brain differences, then would the experience of being a different sex for a day really seem that different because what you felt, felt normal? “Bob, what was it like being a woman for a day?” “No different.” I can’t help but think that I wouldn’t want the brain differences, or at least I could do part of the time w/ the female brain, part w/out, just so that I could feel the body feelings from my perspective. > [@](#): > > What are you guys _really_ communicating when you’re all hanging out in the bosses office??? Depends on the guy. Me? I choose my words. That’s why I have them. I figure that if what I say isn’t what I’m trying to communicate, then I might as well be an ape or a Jerry Springer guest. On the other hand, a relative of mine is incapable of forming or receiving the simplest sentence without it being oozing with hidden meanings. You literally cannot ask this person the time of day without it being interpreted in completely different terms than you intended. He will attempt to read between the lines of one-line statements. I always wonder if women acknowledge each other in any way similar to men. Or, what goes through a women’s minds when a new woman enters the scene. If a guy walks into the office, I think something along the lines of, “Person, male” maybe followed by some quick guesstimate as to socioeconomic class/job function (hey, it’s zoning–builder, developer, lawyer, etc.). I alwas wonder what the women think when a woman walks in. In my fantasies, it ususally has something to to with Sapphic erotica; in my imagination, it is usually somethig really catty like, “Who does she think she is wearing _those_ shoes?!”; and in my analysis, it is usually something pretty prosaic like, “Person, female, here to pay taxes” or whatever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-change-gender-temporarily-if-you-had-the-power/225125.md?page=4)