Nerf Rebelle
By: Payton Goodwin
Growing up my shooting spot was always the mini hallway into the bathroom. Even though it was predictable, my brothers would never shoot their Nerf guns at me when I was in the hiding spot. Originally – when I had first inserted myself into the game – I would shoot them with my pink Nerf Rebelle gun even when they were in their hiding spots. Over time though I stopped, I followed their example of not shooting when hiding in what was later called our “safe base.” This is only one out of many cases of those times that I followed them and their example throughout my childhood.
Throughout my life, I have had plenty of role models, but whether I like to admit it or not, my two older brothers have been the biggest role models in my life. From a young age, I remember involving myself in their “Nerf Gun Wars”, playing games that they used to love (and that I hated), and even stealing their clothes to try to match them from time to time. To me, they were the most talented and fun people to be around.
I had wanted nothing more than to just impress them. I would even sometimes on purpose pick up their mannerisms to try and get them to relate to me in some way. These mannerisms, though, only happened at home. Over the years, because of this I developed two strong personalities: one that I use every day, while the other was solely used around my siblings. Having two role models who were young and of the opposite sex has affected how I and thousands of other children developed. This includes how we behave within our own household vs. in public. With this claim though, many will ask the question, isn’t this true for all siblings?
Like me, thousands upon thousands of girls around the world have at least one older sibling, specifically one of the opposite gender. One of these people, Gianna DeCaprio (my childhood best friend), like me also has an older brother. When asked how she behaved around her brother vs. her friends, she agreed that she had two totally different personalities. “I would definitely try to act more mature or ‘cool’ because I wanted him to think I was cool. But with friends, I was more creative or more myself because I wasn’t worried about what they were thinking.”
Susan Dominus for The New York Times notes experiencing a similar feeling to both Gianna and I in her article “The Surprising Ways that Siblings Change Our Lives”: “I valued not just his opinion but also his high opinion of me—and he thought I was someone who could start a high school newspaper…My brother had all but bullied me into finding a vocation in journalism: He knew my environment, he knew what high school was supposed to be like and he knew me.”
DeCaprio also mentioned in her interview that she often laughs like her older brother Anthony – or as we call him Little Ant. And even says his common phrases regularly at home without even realizing it – but only within her house. She later admitted to me as well that she wouldn't be the same person if it weren’t for Little Ant: “I see how my friends with sisters act vs. myself and I see how differently they react to certain situations.”
This begs the question, does this occur with every older sibling or just the ones of the opposite sex? Through an interview with another friend, Ava Palmer, the answer becomes clear. These behavioral differences, or code-switching, don’t occur as much with those who have older siblings of the same gender. When asked if Palmer saw a difference between her behavior with her older sister Erin vs. her friends she responded with the following: “I would act the same…with Erin, I’m outgoing. With friends, I’m also more open to people.” When asked if she feels she has two separate personalities, one around Erin and the other her friends, Palmer made it clear that she has never felt that way.
Palmer also stated during her interview: “I find myself talking like her sometimes…and when I sing, I sound more like her.” Compared to both Gianna and me, who have developed two strong, different personalities over the years from only adopting our brother’s mannerisms within the household, Ava has never done that. Over the years she has never developed a separate personality but rather adopts her older sister's traits publicly. While the influence on her life and behavior is still there, she doesn’t respond the same way to adapting these traits as both Gianna and I have throughout the years.
As a sister I will always say in public that my brothers are the worst! They say the very same as well of me! Even so, both Michael and Alex have defended me, fought for me, helped me, and cared for me in ways that only an older brother can. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be my role models throughout my entire life. Some of my earliest memories of following in their footsteps are the “Nerf Gun Wars” we had as kids. Even now though, more than ten years later, I continue to follow in their footsteps. “Siblings, at their best, can urge one another on; competing and collaborating — whether intentionally or not — they help chart the course of one another’s lives” (Dominus).