Jeannette Cooperman: “Why Women Can Dress Like Men But Not Vice Versa”

Photo of essayist Jeannette Cooperman“How culpable are heterosexual, cisgender women in keeping men boxed in?,” wonders Jeannette Cooperman. “I take real pleasure in wearing [men’s jeans and shirts],” she writes. “Also in using power tools, swearing, and drinking bourbon. But when my not-exactly-hard-drinking husband tried to order a banana daiquiri in a pub, I did a facepalm.” To state the obvious, “male characteristics are so rich with success and strength and feminine things are associated with weakness and fragility.”  Read her full essay on WUSTL’s Common Reader.

 

Life Struggles

Why do those who have never experiened soul-crushing struggle think themselves equipped to mentor those who are working through their issues?