How well I remember the summer when all the adolescent girls in my class at school simultaneously hit puberty!
The previous June when the school year ended, all the girls were just like me. We were interested in everything -- school, books, art, sports, growing up and achieving our best. In September when we came back after the summer break, all the other girls were suddenly concerned with one thing only -- boys. Previously intelligent girls started pretending to be dumb and uninterested in books or school. "Everyone knows that boys don't like girls who are smarter than they are." The girls all started dieting and obsessing about their looks.
For the life of me, I could not understand this sudden and inexplicable change. It was like aliens had come down from the sky and hijacked all their brains. Why were they acting so weird? I was still the same as always -- why weren't they?
Tomorrow . . . mystery solved! (eventually)
Ah yes, the lost years... how I wish I could go back and re-live them, but my hormones would probably just hijack me again.
ReplyDeleteUgh!!! My granddaughter is at that age...
ReplyDeleteI remember those years so well. And I don't miss that part of them. There are some things that have changed over the years that I'm happy about. It's now cool to be smart -- even for girls. Glasses are cool, too. And nobody gives braces a second thought.
ReplyDeleteSomewhat germane to the subject here: I must be odd. I've always been attracted to intelligent women (girls when younger) and especially ones who wore glasses.
ReplyDeletewell I can't wait for part two,
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the girls started dieting, and the boys... still didn't care. Because we mature slower than girls do, but the girls never realize that, do they?
ReplyDeleteWell that never happened to me! I never started noticing boys! Though I have always been interested in girls...
ReplyDelete(I guess I'm kind of a weirdo for liking intelligent woman!)
i was hell bent on boys even before puberty!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad those years are over! I wore braces for a large part of that time and was invisible to guys during that time. Thankfully, I had them removed before my senior year in high school, and my yearbook photo finally had no brace face!
ReplyDeletemore to women than boobs...
ReplyDeletei went for the bright ones, always...
pissed off big-boobed ones, who thought that's all that mattered! lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgzvTHsOxSQ
Awaiting part two.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with sisters and no brothers. Women make sense to me, and then I went and had 3 boys and 1 daughter. As bizarre we women are at the onset of puberty, nothing prepared me for the sullen 13 year old boy. A year of no speech, and they stink. 3rd son smelled like Italian sausage for 2 years, and that was hard to take. Daughter was emotional, and catty, and weird, but I could relate. Boys are weird.
ReplyDeleteThose years seem so long ago to me, but come to think of it, puberty hit me in June as well. I remember the first week of school being out, sitting on my friends porch, in a pair of white shorts. According to mom, the 'curse' had come.
ReplyDeleteMary
Big mystery, why do some of us stay stuck in puberty? I'm waiting to hear your answers about one of the greatest mysteries ever known.
ReplyDeleteMen have always made more sense to me - I have a rather masculine personality myself. I think I'm a gay man trapped in a woman's body sometimes.
ReplyDeleteJeesh! I don't remember thinking about anything but all of the grotesque things that were happening to my body. How different things would be if our western culture had positive puberty rituals for girls. sigh.
ReplyDeletefabulous read...looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteI see a gym teacher in the horizon
ReplyDeleteI didn't hit puberty, it seemed, until 11th grade.
ReplyDeleteAnd THEN I was in trouble...
Pearl
I remember when I was so proud to grow all that hair....now I wish it would stop!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that picture. Girls are supposed to act dumb so guys won't like them? Damn, no wonder I didn't date until I met another thinking brain. I had to wait a while...
ReplyDeleteI'm with Workingdan!
ReplyDeleteNotice where Stephenie is looking... :)
ReplyDelete