Eight

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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?

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