Why Cant I Play with Barbie?

I was born as a Korean-American male at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. I started life as a mischievous little baby who always liked to place any foreign objects that I could get my hands on, in my mouth and ultimately found out Elmer’s glue and blue play dough did make for a tasty snack in between meals. I learned from my mother to always be persistent with pursing goals I had set for myself since she had told me that mediocre efforts wouldn’t get me to far in life but rather hinder my growth as an individual in society. Growing up within a rather large Korean family, I always found myself surrounded by my other siblings. Being the second youngest of 5 kids, the influences of my older siblings on me have shaped me into the individual that I am today. As a young Korean-American male, my parents expected me to focus only on my studies. They only wanted the best for me and expected me to either become a doctor or a priest. My family has played a big role in helping me to identify myself as a male in society.

Since my brother was much older than me, I rarely saw him around the house while growing up and I found myself always surrounded by my three sisters and mothe

In my earlier grade school days, I found myself surrounded by Barbie dolls, make believe tea sets, Cabbage Patches, and an infinite array of other pink, purple, flower-designed figurines. I always followed my two older sisters around whenever they went to go pick flowers for mom when she was in a bad mood or even when they’d go to girl scouts meetings. Little did I know that the activities I took part in were of a feminine nature and not of the social norm set for little boys whose pastimes usually consisted of setting fire to their favorite GI Joe with the lighter they stole from their dads, crashing matchbox cars together repeatedly to figure out how far they’d go after they collided, and play fighting with wooden swords which usually resulted in an occasional scrap on the knee. I was beginning to associate myself with the female gender around me and it was not until mom signed me up for the soccer team at the local park district that I was introduced to a whole new group known as “the boys”.

Playing sports opened up a whole new door for me. As a member of an all-boys soccer and basketball team as a kid, I began to assimilate myself with my masculine side. It was on these teams that I realized that boys liked to ride their bikes off of 4 feet ramps and it was the coolest thing to

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