Hm. I have occasionally thought about this, and don't really have a good answer. I would definitely be somewhat different; for a start, I expect that the feminine aspects of my personality would be somewhat more pronounced, and the masculine ones more subdued, but I really can't say to what extent (in part because I don't really have a way to quantify the balance between them now), though I think my personality as a whole would not be strongly different. My primary friendship in middle and high school was pretty strongly stereotypically male, so I expect that would have been significantly different, with unpredictable results. And of course my romantic history would also be quite different (though possibly not entirely different). As for other relationships, I'm not sure; I suspect that geekiness dominates most of my relationships with my friends these days more than most gender norms, but I'm sure there would still be some differences, and I don't know what they would be.
Bonus: well, I guess I'd have to shopping, since presumably most of my clothing (especially my shoes) would no longer fit, unless we're talking about a Misfile (http://www.misfile.com)-type situation here. Not that I mind having to go on a thrift store expedition. Though come to think of it, calling my S.O.s and having some very interesting conversations would probably have to come first. I think that would actually be a lot easier to deal with than having everyone else's memories of me suddenly switch to female while my own remained the same; while I might have to deal with some relationships changing, at least I wouldn't have to try to figure out how they had theoretically been different all along.
Have you read Steel Beach by John Varley, btw? Has some very interesting stuff about gender-changing in a far future society. Can loan it to you if you haven't; it's quite good on other levels, too.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2008-09-07 08:19 am (UTC)Bonus: well, I guess I'd have to shopping, since presumably most of my clothing (especially my shoes) would no longer fit, unless we're talking about a Misfile (http://www.misfile.com)-type situation here. Not that I mind having to go on a thrift store expedition. Though come to think of it, calling my S.O.s and having some very interesting conversations would probably have to come first. I think that would actually be a lot easier to deal with than having everyone else's memories of me suddenly switch to female while my own remained the same; while I might have to deal with some relationships changing, at least I wouldn't have to try to figure out how they had theoretically been different all along.
Have you read Steel Beach by John Varley, btw? Has some very interesting stuff about gender-changing in a far future society. Can loan it to you if you haven't; it's quite good on other levels, too.