tw: mentions of body image issues, sexual harassment, sexism
~inspired by Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl"~
written on: november 2, 2020
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My hand-me-down backpack was pink, but all the other girls had pink ones anyways so it was fine that I didn't like mine, who doesn't want to fit in?; everyone had a group to gossip with, I only had one friend, maybe that's why I never acted like them; I grew like a weed and my friend was always so much smaller and bonier, everyone was so much smaller, why aren't I smaller then?; all my sisters wore skirts so I wore skirts too - "are you showing off your legs for the boys?", why would an adult ask such an absurd question, am I supposed to know what that means?; then older boys started yelling at me on the walk home from the bus stop - "nice legs!", that's a compliment so why doesn't it feel like one?; all the girls at school were raving about mascara, but my mom told me that makeup is for older girls, are they trying to be older girls now? should I try to be an older girl now?; "how many kids do you want to have?", every woman at church seemed to want to know, I'd never thought too deeply about it, should I have been thinking about it?; I was always so curious and I began to wonder, this is what third grade is supposed to be like for everyone, right?
YOU ARE READING
poetry by jungenwunder
Poesíamy old stuff is pretty bad but my newer stuff is much better, please pay attention to when it was written and feel free to start at the end of the book!! i will have trigger warnings at the beginning of chapters when necessary. stay safe, i love you.
