Weird question: Has anyone here ever...

[Bluetree]

... been mistaken for a boy?

Aside from a mistake in a race where they put me in the 35-39 MALE category, it seems to be happening with greater frequency. Last summer, I was taking a break from work at Del Mar and a security guard came up from behind me and asked, "Are you lost, son?"
I thought is was a fluke. My friends had a good laugh over it. But it has happened more times this year, usually by salespeople.

I don't wear makeup very often (two-a-day workouts put an end to that) and if I have no reason to Dress-to-Impress I'm usually in yoga-type clothes or fitness apparel. I don't wear men's clothes, but I'm not the flowers-n-pink type person, either. I admit I don't exactly have a lot of curves (5-1, size 0), but I'm a 39 y.o. old woman and I'm starting to get a complex.

Am I alone in this?

[Pax]

I'm 5'10" and built like a linebacker so I'm the antithesis of your build, but before menopause it happened to me all the time, I guess I look "softer" now?

[Eden]

A guy walked up to my husband and myself and gushed all over us at a New Years fireworks display about how lucky we were and its not every day you get to spend new years eve with your son.....

My hair is long now, but when it was short yup I would get mistaken for a little boy sometimes. A co worker of mine was hassled about flying alone once - where's you mom little boy kind of thing, though she was both a woman and an adult... It only gets really annoying when I'm waiting someplace, like a deli counter, and the person keeps passing me over because they think I'm just someones kid.

[Trekhawk]

Im sure your not alone but I also have to wonder if the people that made those statements need glasses. I sure had no trouble picking out which was the boy in this one.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=12269

[missymaya]

I got the 'hey boy' comments both when I was a tot and as I got older:
When I was much younger (pre-puberty youth) I had my hair short and my teachers thought, at first, that I was a cute little boy. I got my ears pierced to make sure people knew I was a girl except my ears become infected and I had to take them out.
I developed a complex and for many years, I was terribly afraid of cutting my hair short. It didn't get much better as I got older. I too, like queen,am built like a defensive lineman at 5'11 and 160 (this is me being the thinest I can get w/o looking like I starve myself). When I used to row, we did a lot of weights, both upper and lower body, and I couldn't wear women's shirts b/c they didn't fit my shoulders. I easily weighed close to 180. So, when I got over the short hair complex + the muscular build, I got all sorts of things by strangers.
Now that I work in an office, I have to look nice and I kinda fit women's shirts now, so it can be easily determined that Im a woman, but when I workout, totally different story.

[mimitabby]

Im sure your not alone but I also have to wonder if the people that made those statements need glasses. I sure had no trouble picking out which was the boy in this one.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=12269

I agree with Trek here.

and from another angle, a few years ago, there was an article in my local paper, in the non-news section, summer filler; about who should and shouldn't wear shorts. For women over 40, it said, don't wear shorts unless you're built like a boy.
That made me smile because that describes the legs of most of us here (and me).

So maybe being built like a boy is a good thing. No, I'm not built like a boy, but my legs sorta are.

[Thistle]

Im sure your not alone but I also have to wonder if the people that made those statements need glasses. I sure had no trouble picking out which was the boy in this one.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=12269

when i read this i was thinking of this photo you posted and thinking "how could anyone think you were a boy "

I reckon some people must just speak without engaging their brain, or as someone else said maybe see you from behind.

I have tried to think of times i've had difficulty deciding when someone was male or female, and to be honest, there arent that many !! So i figure people who do this often (and it sounds like it does happen often from reading this thread ) either really do need glasses and arent wearing them (i'm at the age where i cant recognise colleagues at a distance so i know this is a possibilty) or maybe they are too lazy to actually look at whether they are talking to a guy or a girl

[Brandi]

My dh Has that problem except they always think he is a girl. And it is normally older people. We can not figure out why they think this. He has very muscular legs,unshaven, broad shoulders, short hair, and big feet. It is always when we are working. I hear people say " Oh those ladies are so talented" Or "excuse Miss how do you do that" . It makes me giggle. He's always turns around and says" Can not see my hairy legs?" They are shocked when he turns around and they realize he is a man. Besides he is 6 ft too. Not that there are not a lot of women over 6 ft but with everything else you would think they would figure it out.

[Brandi]

And you know i think it is just the short haircut. I saw the pic's of you from the other thread. Don't take it to heart. Your way cute! And I am sure people feel stupid when they realize you are not a boy.

[7rider]

I seem to have Queen's body morphology. Nothing petite about me.
I also tend to not wear makeup (although I do always have earrings on, but that doesn't count for much these days) and go for "comfort" over feminine style with clothes.
Consequently, when I am mistaken for a guy (more in college, then now), I was often called "sir" rather than "son."
There's an older guy - gotta be pushing 80, now - at the ski club in NH where I used to go, who called me "Fred" because he thought I looked like a guy with my (then) short hair.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

... been mistaken for a boy?

Aside from a mistake in a race where they put me in the 35-39 MALE category, it seems to be happening with greater frequency. Last summer, I was taking a break from work at Del Mar and a security guard came up from behind me and asked, "Are you lost, son?"

Clearly in that instance, the guard was going on seeing you from behind- you are pretty small and you don't have curvy hips, right? So it might be natural to mistake you for a boy from behind I suppose. (No one would likely make that mistake when seeing ME from behind, with my obvious pear shape... ) You are very feminine looking, but you are petite all around, so it seems like it might be a natural mistake, especially if you are not wearing makeup and are dressed in generic gym clothes. Don't forget that the average American woman is getting heavier every year, so that also means a woman of your size and shape is becoming more and more uncommon.
Incidentally, I actually did get called "Sir" the other day while standing in line, by a bank teller who quickly realized her mistake. I was pretty bundled up in winter clothes though, so my "dead giveaway" hips were under cover as was every other part of me. But it is has been a rare occurance for me since turning 30 or so.

[ClockworkOrange]

Hey, it's these others who are dumb, I would swop places any day, with somebody who had such a lovely slim figure...........and pretty.......grrrrrrr!

Daily I try and lose weight (like so many others), my hair is shorter than yours but I never get mistaken for a guy, let alone a boy...........

Sally

[emily_in_nc]

Never. But when we were kids, my brother was often taken for a girl. He got the beautiful long eyelashes instead of me (grrrrrr), big blue eyes (again, grrrrr), and had longish hair. After he hit puberty and got tall and angular (and grew facial hair!) that never happened again.

I'm petite and curvy, so I guess that's why I've never been mistaken for a guy, even though I've had shortish hair most of my adult life (longer now), and I tend to dress fairly feminine, though not to the extreme. Wearing makeup helps.

Emily

[Bluetree]

Thanks for sharing, Gals. I'm glad I'm not alone out there.

I live in the land of The Beautiful People, where implants and surgery is so commonplace that it almost seems freakish to have an unusual body type. I guess my perspective is a little "off."

You gals are so wonderful, you make the world a much more sensible place! (((TE Gals)))

[doc]

In person I've never been mistaken for a guy, but I am ALWAYS called "sir" on the phone. I have a deep, but not-that-deep voice. Somehow the phone makes it a little lower and I am NEVER called Miss. It gets annoying, but hey, I assume no offense intended, so none taken.