Which is why I really admire those people who deliberately flout their designated role and are prepared to put up with all the negative responses, however upsetting and infuriating.
Like the artist Grayson Perry, who revels in his alter ego Claire, with her flamboyant dresses and bizarre hairdos. Of course he can get away with it because he's a phenomenally successful artist, but even so.
Like Samira Ahmed, who took the BBC to an employment tribunal in a dispute over equal pay, and won.
Like the Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai, who from the age of 11 campaigned for the right of girls to go to school.
Like Sally Ride, who in 1983 became the first American woman in space when she rode the space shuttle Challenger.
Like women who sport cropped hair, a suit and tie, and chunky footwear. They know the ignorant will assume they're lesbian or "wasting their femininity" but that doesn't put them off.
Like all the women who're determined to pursue careers traditionally reserved for men, and all the men who're happy to be house-husbands.
But these unabashed gender benders are still thin on the ground. The reality is that gender roles are very strictly enforced and you need a thick skin and a lot of bravery to ignore them.
It would be fun if I could wear a dress occasionally, but I don't think east Belfast is quite ready for such wayward behaviour. I'll have to leave it to the celebs and the unrepentant social mavericks.
