Counter Factual Identity: life as a boy

For this activity we had to create counter factual identities and act like someone I’m not, so I thought why not dress up as a guy! I picked to dress up as a guy because I thought that it was the most counter factual identity I could have since I am a girl. So I went through my dads closet and found anything thing that would slightly fit. I even used eyeshadow to make myself a fake beard and tried to talk in a deep voice. When approaching people I felt like a lot of them thought I was really strange or on drugs. However after asking them questions I informed them that this was a class project and that I wasn’t trying to be strange or creepy.  When I asked them what the thought my name was I got a variety of answers like, “Susan, Vicky, Donna, Judy, Brenda.” It seemed like the majority of the names they said where somewhat masculine. The answer that shocked me the most was that almost all the people I asked about my major said that they thought I was a Women’s Gender Major. This irritated me because they assumed that I was hardcore feminist who burns my bra and probably never shaves and that I was a Lesbian. (stereotype of a feminist) It was really sad to know that society instantly judges you and puts you into categories simply by the way you dress.