My childhood was as heavily gendered as any you would find in a working-class household in Lincolnshire.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I grew up in Lincolnshire, trying to get the daughters of farmers and policemen to like me. It didn't go well until I got to college where, suddenly, there were different sorts of humans.
I've got six brothers, so I grew up with all boys, then I moved in with three girls, and the differences were incredible. Living in a very feminine house threw me a bit. The bathroom was unbelievable; it was like a chemist's.
The only way the gender divide affected me was the social things the younger guy executives could do with their bosses. I don't know what went on in the clubs, because I didn't go. I made sure my work was stellar, and that compensated for whatever social time we weren't spending together.
Generally speaking, historically in this country, the care of a child has been thought of as female business.
I grew up in a house of forthright women.
When you are in a small rural place with cold weather and a lot of granite, you need people who are going to work hard, and you really stop worrying about what gender they are.
The men I worked for didn't look at me as having any gender at all. They regarded me more as a workhorse.
We were unusually brought up; there was no gender differentiation. I was never thought of as any less than my brother.
I was a weird but definite kid, and there were essentially no gender roles for me to fit into.
I was really raised in a gender-neutral household. I always knew I was a girl, but it never occurred to me that there was a limitation.