If you could chose sex from birth would you live as a man?

[habobobo]

I realised almost every bad or difficult thing thats happened to me personally most likely wouldn't happen to a guy. So if could chose, I think I would probably chose to live life as a man. This makes me a bit sad.

How about you guys?

It's interesting those who would choose to be male, all seem to presume they'd be one of the lucky men. The minority of men who make it to the board room or a top job.

Oh, for Christ's sake.

You're aware that many Mumsnet posters are, y'know, black women, many of them in less welcoming places than Central London? (You are aware central London is potentially one of the best places in the country to be black, right?) Or women working grinding menial minimum wage jobs? Most women reading this aren't in the boardroom or a top job. So in this entirely arbitrary thought experiment about changing sex, they'd have the same socioeconomic advantages or not as before, but they would also gain male privilege.

Unskilled work typically taken by men often has a higher accident risk, but it tends to pay significantly better than the unskilled work options available to women.

No, would not even hesitate. I love being female.

I'd like to be a cat if im getting to choose.
But i can think of pros and cons for each. I think anywhere with access to good contraception, maternity care and abortion id rather be a woman and in other places id rather be a man.

It's interesting those who would choose to be male, all seem to presume they'd be one of the lucky men. The minority of men who make it to the board room or a top job.

I never mentioned anything like that. I said that I would like to not have spent my younger years having strangers grab my boobs and that I'd like to not have had to endure pregnancy and birth. As far as I'm aware even poor men don't have to give birth.

I wasn't saying women don't end up in shitty positions. It just comes across that the ones who say they'd swap are not thinking they'd swap to be a man who has it shitty.
You know, the ones who really have very little, if any advantage over women.

London is literally the worst example of a city to live in the country!

Absolutely not. However it's really hard to determine because where does the lifelong impact of my sexed XX body combined with female socialization end and "DCI" begin? What is my personality - the essence of me?

Simply answered, however, gestating and giving birth to my children has been the best and most transformative experience of my life. I have also loved breastfeeding long-term - I've been either pregnant or lactating for 8 years so far - and volunteer to give support to other breastfeeding women which I really enjoy.

My personality is stereotypically quite feminine and I am sexually attracted to men so I feel that being male would have made my life more difficult in many ways.

London is literally the worst example of a city to live in the country!

Yeah, that's why the property's so cheap - because no one wants to live there.

You may not fancy it, and that's fine, but millions like it fine, including many Black, mixed race and BAME individuals because they feel accepted and at home.

And of course nobody's saying "gee, I'd happily swap from being a rich white woman in the UK to a poor black boy living in a Rio favela" because that's a completely different question. And the point is that, other things being broadly equal, men have many advantages and privileges over women, including substantial financial ones.

No, didn't even need to think about it.
I like being a woman, and men have their own problems.

It's interesting those who would choose to be male, all seem to presume they'd be one of the lucky men. The minority of men who make it to the board room or a top job.

I would've liked to be male so I didn't have my mannerisms,behaviours, words and thoughts policed and told they were wrong.

So that I didn't have limits imposed in what I want to do and what I was/could be good at because I was a girl.

So that I wasn't called lazy,irresponsible and stupid for not being neat and have good handwriting because that's how girls are.

So I didn't get a beating or verbally abused for doing "boy" things.

So I didn't get blamed for being bullied or getting hit or getting into fights because I'm "not a serious girl".

So that I wasn't sexually assaulted (more than once,the first one at 13)and blamed for it.

So that I wouldn't be called a bitch in heat by my teachers.

I don't give a shit about boardroom jobs(despite having a low paid one), but I do wish I had at least a safe childhood if not happy.

^^ This, all of it, plus the ability to do half the work but take double the credit, and never be called selfish for not sacrificing yet more. Yes I'd have chosen to be a man if I could.

Am surprised so many have said no. It's totally rubbish being a woman physically not to mention the social disadvantages. I've always strongly wished I was born a man.

Also don't care about having a boardroom job.

No, not for a minute.

It's not "totally rubbish being a woman physically"

The only part of sex that actually causes pregnancy is vaginal penetration you know... so if you're worried about that... then just avoid vaginal penetration and enjoy everything else instead..

@dwatsuts how easy is that likely to be do you think with a man you hardly know who has met you for a sexual encounter? I can tell you that a lot of men wouldn't be happy with that. And because it's a casual encounter, you don't know his character beforehand.

At best you're probably going to get moody behaviour which will suck all the pleasure out of the encounter. At worst you're gonna get raped.

At the start of my career, yes but I wouldn't today. It definitely wouldn't help and, in some circumstances, might even be detrimental (for me personally, based upon not having children). I'd also be 60% more likely to be a victim of violent crime (especially from strangers, which would make going out more nerve wracking).

An interesting addition to the question might be, would the preferences change for being born a random male vs being born in largely the same circumstances and pursuing the same interests/career.

What is ‘totally rubbish’ about physically being a female? Periods? Giving birth? Boobs? I have small boobs and light periods and pregnancy and giving birth was a memorable experience I would never trade.

You think that having a penis, scrotum and prostate is such a fantastic thing? No thanks - dangly bits and uncontrollable erections are not things I would like to experience. Yearly prostate exams, benign prostate hypertrophy - Male pattern baldness?

There is a reason why the default programming genetically is female.

I imagine that my being in a male body/a man, might suit some parts of my personality better than others - in terms of societal expectation & reception, anyway. Though it is difficult to unpick which aspects of my own character or personality have been allowed to flourish/or be diminished on account of my biological sex.

A lot of this will also depend on other circumstances such as your social & economic background and culture: the interplay between your sex; your race; your class & your culture - and how the condition of each of these circumstances interplays with societal 'norms' and expectations around sex and gender roles & expression.

My waking up to feminism came about through and because of my body. In my time I've celebrated and honoured the menstrual cycle and menstruation ( keeping a diary/monitoring my cycle/sensing the deep power and creativity) - even if at times it was physically uncomfortable. I had an early menopause at 37. Have to say I don't miss my periods now, though - and feel a lot freer of the 'sexual game' now that I'm older. The sex urge and the desire for sex has receded, even though I was always very 'sexual' when younger - and I often look at the world and am glad that I am no longer led by that need or desire.

I also enjoyed being pregnant ( mostly) and valued and appreciated the power and intensity of giving birth. I did have natural home births in all three instances. Giving birth in positive circumstances, really deepened my feelings of sexual and 'womanly' confidence.

We're all different though, with vastly different experience - and so I guess that how we answer the thread question will depend on those experiences and how negative or positive we have found our lives to be - on balance.