A) Growing up in society as a young girl I think many of the norms considered appropriate stream from media, influencers, and those who we look up to growing up. When I was younger I think it was definitely more expected of me to be calm, mannered, and a "respectable young lady", but as I grew up it was more socially acceptable to branch out of this norm and to build my own reputation and personality. I think my mom taught me a lot of the norms that I was raised on, because she was one of the only female figures in my life which allowed me to create an idol out of her and the way she behaved. I was also raised in a religious household, so I think a lot of the mannerisms I learned also stemmed from that religious perspective, where I was expected to be virtuous and hold myself with a lot of dignity and respect. I think a lot of girls are expected to be calm and collected, and we are looked down upon when we behave in different ways because it goes against the stereotypical norms that society has placed on females over time. Growing up I think sports were a huge eye opening factor for what girls "should and shouldn't do", because we are raised in a society where girls and boys are segregated for sports, and there are the clearly more masculine sports, like football, that girls are rarely partake in B) As a girl who grew up in a conservative family, I was told at a young age to wear clothes that covered my chest and legs. This way, men would be less likely to sexualize my body and I would appear more modest to family members. I was taught to believe that I was in control of how men treated me based on my clothing. In school, I was conditioned to believe that makeup and hair styling ensured popularity and friends, and that a thin body was ideal. A large amount of my effort was put into my physical appearance and enhancing my feminine features, like my hair, nails, and assets. I think I adapted these cultural norms through both family and school, where I was torn between staying modest and being more flashy with my appearance. One memory I have of my childhood that I look back on a lot is when I used to have a habit of biting my lips out of anxiety or boredom. One of my family members saw me doing this and told me to stop, because only girls who were “asking for male attention” bit their lips. I was probably only 9 at the time, and in retrospect, that comment made to me was very inappropriate to make to a child, and could pass the dangerous message that a girl is to blame for the actions of men. An example of double standards from my childhood can be seen among my brother and I, where I was not allowed to play sports or wear shorts because of religious reasons to stay modest, however my brother was never told what he can or can’t wear even though with that argument, his shorts or him taking off his shirt in public was immodest. I do believe that the gender expectations I was raised with is very specific to Middle Eastern/ conservative families, because modesty through clothing is very important in their culture and a lot of double standards are seen between boys and girls