"You're a Beast!"

I don't think girls really like to be called beastly. Today I was thinking maybe I should just embrace the beast-like tendencies I have. Last week in class we looked at different scales of gender, sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression. To me, the gender part seemed pretty clear but I guess it always isn't. The other areas were a bit hard to look at. I've realized a lot of the social constructs that play into my identity and expression and while I am, feel and express myself as a woman, I am somewhat of a tomboy. I've always done the things the boys do. This is partly because I grew up with brothers, nearly all boy cousins, and had to play baseball with the boys from the time I was 5 until I went to high school. Sometimes I'm proud of my strength (have you done a complete 26.2 marathon or leg press 270 pounds?) and other times I'm embarrassed (I've been told have the perfect shoulders to be a line backer) but I've found a few new hobbies. I'm doing this with women but they're definitely male dominated sports, boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I'm mostly looking forward to being able to defend myself against my brothers, although Robbie knows a lot of submissions already. In a weird way it's also making me very comfortable with my body and with others.