What would it be like if the world were not as it is, and what we are or have is turned over, inside out? If I were a man, would the world be indignant to me if I refuse to spare a seat to a lady? Would I be richer or more ruthlessly ambitious? What parts of the world would open up to me and which ones would eat me alive?
Of all the questions that could be asked, I can think of only two that matters: how would I see the world and how would the world see me. If I were a man, the world would be a vast mine of opportunity to earn money. Perhaps, after college, I would feel more confident that I can get the job I want because men are still given better opportunities than women. This is true, although women nowadays can dream as much as men could. Willa Carther writes: “The fact that I was a girl never damaged my ambitions to be a pope or an emperor” (Acocella 9).
If I were a man, I would think about the right time to settle down and quit fooling around. I would be preoccupied with how much I’m worth already and if it’s enough to keep a family. If I were a man, I would be more aggressive in getting what I want regardless of who I might step on. Anyway, I think whoever that may be would not mind because, if I were a man, I probably wouldn’t. It’s part of the game.
If I were a man it would be harder for me to express my feelings even to my buddies. I would probably try to dodge emotionally-taxing discussions and steer it to something I can handle, like football. I would find ways to divert my heartbreaking emotions to something that would conceal it for what it truly is because as they said, boys don’t cry.
Work Cited
- Acocella, Joan. Willa Cather and the Politics of Criticism. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000.
