Nathan Palmer's Essay 'This Isn T An Act'

I have always wanted to be a mother and a wife. I have always thought it was what I was born to be. But was that belief actually ingrained in me? Nathan Palmer brings up the question of being taught gender in his essay "This Isn't An Act!" The Sociology of Gender Performances. In this essay, Palmer discusses acts that are associated with being women and acts that are associated with men, and how biologically these acts are not automatic but taught. So that brings to question, have I always been a loving mother and wife?

In reviewing my gender performance, I am often the parent that ensures my child is being taken care of, from brushing teeth, preparing meals, and getting him dressed for school and bedtime. These are all considered gender performances. It is the mother's job to do the cooking for the family. It is the mother's job to get the children dressed. Cooking and care for well being were things that were taught to me by watching my own mother.

My husband, on the other hand, fixes the cars when there are issues with them. He also takes it upon himself to hang frames and change light bulbs. This is another example of gender performance. Men are the physical care takers. They fix appliances, do "hard labor", and often work on cars. These are things my husband saw his father do, or try to do.
When I was younger, I enjoyed playing with dinosaurs, getting dirty, and made friends with all the boys. As I got older and became interested in boys, I realized they saw me as one of them, and not girlfriend potential. This made me begin to change things. I realized that males see "feminine females" as more attractive, and began to wear dresses more often, painted my nails, and was generally more of a girly girl. And though I still perform many of the gender performances, I am still a little different in that I know about cars, play video games, and like