Becoming sissy : a response to David McInnes

David McInnes's conceptual intervention has prompted in me distant recollections. I was called a "sissy" as a child, although I can't remember who did the naming, and what exactly it was that I did, or didn't do, in my "becoming sissy". I do remember that I didn't want to be one, and that my being a sissy came with another instruction: "Don't be such a girl!" Looking back, I understand that my "becoming girl" involved a lot of hard work, and being the conscientious type (another kind of performance that no doubt worked in tandem with my "becoming girl") I suspect that I'd worked overtime.