The reason why I had an NLOG phase was not because I thought the stereotypes boys talked about applied to other girls and not me.
It was because when I talked to other girls about how stupid I thought our prescribed stereotypes and roles were, instead of agreeing with me they actually said that they wanted to fit into those roles. They said they liked being controlled by boys and wanted nothing more than to be a stay at home wife and mother under their husband's authority at 20 years old. They said it was true that they hated intellectual pursuits, video games, computers, etc. That a woman's role is to be stereotypically feminine and quiet and dainty.
I couldn't understand why they'd want any of that at all. So despite growing up with the same cultural conditioning as them, I decided I must not be like other girls. That I was different and weird, and boy was I punished for that. The role of the virgin wife was the good role for girls to be, and everyone who deviated from it at all was bullied ruthlessly and whispered about and mocked by boys and girls alike.
Were you "slutty"? Not republican? Tried alcohol or drugs? Not pretty? Didn't wear makeup or have cute clothes? Better have tough skin then.
