I'm not sure when the whole "Sissy" thing came along. It seems a thing of my kids generation; I mean, we did have Buffy and Jody and Sissy, but I always thought that was just her name - like Sissy Spacek(sp) - not a signifier of a role. Today, my Ally, and lots of other girls I know, is a Sissy in the same way that I'm a Mommy. when did this happen? Why did this happen? I was always Penny to Andy, or "My Sister" (among other not-so-nice names) if he were referring to me. All of my girl friends have similar stories - not a Sissy in the bunch.
But Ally has been Sissy since the day I was pregnant with Carlos. He knows her name, just as he knows mine and his dad's, but he as not once called her by it. Boys don't seem to have a signifier like this - perhaps yet another example of the sexism still rampant in our society? Is there a boy version of Sissy? I hear people occasionally calling men Bro, but it seems in more of a peer signifier way than in a sibling signifier way. Is this a bad thing? Is it testimony to the nurturing expectations of women/girls in our society? Is it just a name and nothing more?
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