lol. I'm the first born, a girl, to people that came from outside the US. So yeah, in a way, I always knew I was a girl and that meant people thought I was somehow limited in some way, not sure if there was a moment, but I will have to consider that. In some ways, maybe because I was first born, I was treated a bit like a boy, or at least, my boyish impulses weren't totally squashed. I played ball with my dad. I wore sneakers and overalls (even if they were pink). I wore pants and my hair pulled back my entire childhood. My parents let me run around a bit but I was given strict limits and I did keep to them. Actually my upbringing was a bit feminist in a sense, I was encouraged to do well in school, find a career before a man, be emotionally tough, take care of myself, etc. Of course me being me I was a dismal failure at some of those things (mostly the career thing, and being tough) but it wasn't because I'm a girl, it's because I suck.

But there were things I was told I couldn't or shouldn't do because I am a girl. Like when I was a kid I wanted to play the drums and was told drums were for boys. (That might have been an excuse, though, so that they didn't have to buy me a drumset). And I wasn't allowed to cut my hair for years and years (I finally cut it relatively short this year... and I'm in my late 20s), etc. Some things I listened to, and in some ways I'm a pretty conventional female. But when a limitation didn't make sense or didn't apply to me, I just ignored that kind of idea.

Ultimately, I was never taught by the people who mattered that being female would limit me, and although I knew there were barriers for women, and was frequently told so by media etc, I never really felt like it would.

I've never really felt too limited as a result of being male.

The girl photographed 'working' is every bit as fashionable as anyone serious about life has a need to be. (The doggie might however consider two pair of sensible shoes though) As to Dickinson; what she refers to is an unfairness which has been proven. Today's 2nd-level 'strawberry moment' is when your jaw dropped. "They don't get it. The poem's  not about the damn strawberries, tasty as they may be." you might have been saying. And That type of moment is 24 hours for me on Xanga, as reactions, if at all, to my posts only ever seem to bite into the trivial layer I put on the top to break the tension, some petty detail I included for reality.  if I were a girl, now, I could cry about it. Cruel Fate

I don't think i've ever been limited to much because of the fact that I am a male. My Grandmother at easter was at my parents making a prawn curry, which supposedly was a family tradition to have every easter. I was very keen to know how it was made, as it was the first I had heard of it. - I don't see non-immediate family very much -  But she felt that I shouldn't have been in the kitchen watching her cook, let-alone asking her about the recipe.  I wasn't limited though, just a stereotype was thought of first.

I believe if we worry about what people think we will limit our selfs more. But if you show that you don't worry about what people think, people will less likely question your moves.

A limit that I can think of, is one which is understandable, and that is that when I was a kid I always wondered what the girls toilets at school were like. I wondered that for years, always knowing that I couldn't enter and see for my self. I had asked and been told what they were like. But that wasn't enough for me. I had to see for myself. So one day after years of wondering, I stayed back late after school and ran in quickly to look. It was exactly as it was described nothing more than toilets. I than ran out quickly to make sure I wasn't seen by anyone. I felt good that I found out what they looked like - I still do -, even though it was no big deal.

Aside from having babies, no. I wouldn't want to do that anyway. Looks painful!

@a_frantic_brain - yep, girlpower.