Gender Fun

So today I went out grocery shopping. And I decided that I would also have a little fun with gender while doing so. The results were comical at best and angering at the worst.

I wore a simple outfit- nothing too showy and nothing too bizarre. It was a pair of white jeans with a white athletic shirt, a pair of sandals and a light purple sarong tied on around the waist. Nothing offensive.

While shopping, I had many many other shoppers looking me up and down. It was obvious that they were double checking because my lower half and my head didn't seem to go with my chest (or should I say lack thereof?). No, I did not even try to create an image of having breasts or cleavage. There were several couples out shopping and the husband would give me a double look causing the wife to give her husband a pissed-off look until she also got a look at me. Then she would look me up and down as well. Of course, I was just going about my normal purchases the whole time and didn't let on that I knew I was being watched.

As I was checking out at one store the cashier didn't know how to interact with me. She stared the entire time and did as much as she could without talking...which made it comical because I wrote checks so the cashier had to talk to me in order to process the check.

At the second store I went to as I was walking down the aisle an employee walked past me. At first she just gave me the one-over and kept pace going by...I knew she wasn't satisfied though so I turned my head just enough so I could catch her out of the corner of my eye as she did a complete turn-about behind me so she could look again.

The most angering part was as I was checking out at one place. The line I was in was right by the entrance to the store. As people walked in I could hear them as their conversations abruptly stopped and then continued once they were past me. Several other people actually scoffed and commented that I was "wrong" for what I was doing.

The saving grace of my community was one older woman I walked past on my way to my car. She had lots of time to look me over ans size me up as I walked through the parking lot. As she got to me she smiled a genuine smile and we both kept on our ways. 

This last part leads me to a further question. From the woman's smile, I could tell that she liked/approved/enjoyed what I was doing yet she didn't say anything. I know there were others in the stores who supported me (or would have supported me) as well if it came to it....yet none of them approached me or said anything. As best as I could tell, the woman who smiled didn't say anything because she was nervous about what to say to me. Afraid she had misjudged me perhaps? Regardless of whether I was purposely playing with gender or if I were just an underdeveloped girl, why should she have felt afraid of saying hello? I don't bite!