Ethiopian Child

When I was in 5th grade I was given a nickname by my best friend’s mother. Ethiopian child. Like from South Park. She used to laugh and laugh because she said I was so skinny that I reminded her of the little emaciated character from a third world county. What?! Did she really think I looked like that? I had always known that I was skinny, but it never really seemed to be a problem. It was only after receiving that nickname that I started to think that, in comparison to most of my friends, I looked gangly and awkward. It didn’t help my situation much that I have scoliosis (a twist and curvature of my spine), which makes one of my hips stick out much farther than the other. In the readings from Red this week, I immediately related to Alison Smith, the “Skinny Girl”. If I had a dollar for every time one of my friends told me “your so skinny, I hate you”, well, I’d have a lot of dollars. “It probably doesn’t even occur to many people that she may not like her body to be so angular and thin” (Red 9). In a society were everyone is so obsessed with being thin, none of my friends could even comprehend that fact that I would have given anything to be even the slightest bit curvy! I can also relate to the fact that Alison finally found a part of her that she loves, her hips. For me it is my boobs! I know, I know! :) Even though I have matured and filled out quite a bit since I was nicknamed Ethiopian Child, I’m still far from curvy. My breasts are a part of me that makes me feel womanly.

I was 13 when I got my first period. It was not a traumatic or even overly memorable experience. I knew what it was, I had learned about it in school and from friends, and I had basically been waiting for it for a few years. My mother gave me some pads and told me that I was growing up, and that was pretty much it. No biggie really. I think that some of the stigma for girls getting their periods is going away. It no longer has to be something so secretive or embarrassing, its just a way of life and I think girls need to understand that before they even get it! I saw a quote on the gurl.com page about periods that I thought was absolutely hilarious. “It proves we are better than guys because we have periods; we have something to show that we're mature. Guys take forever to show maturity.” I wish more little girls could think about their periods this way!

I will say though, that I wish that I had felt more comfortable talking to my mom about my body. I used pads instead of tampons for 7 years because the thought of having anything near, or god forbid in, that area, completely disgusted me. Talking about that kind of thing in my house wasn’t forbidden, it just seemed like everyone was uncomfortable with it so we just avoided it all together. I think most everything I knew about my body at that time, I learned from teen magazines. I know my parents did the best that they could, but I sometimes wish that I had been a little more educated about my body and sex and things like that. I am sure that many girls my age probably grew up with the same kind of thing. I think that it’s great that schools teach kids about their bodies, but I think that the education needs to continue past just elementary school. The 5th grade “video” that Emily Kaplan talks about in Red, is the same kind of education I got (Red 19). And that’s where it ended. I also think it would be great if there was education for parents on how to talk to their daughters about uncomfortable subjects like sex. I think that it would be very beneficial to the girls, having their information on these topics come from people they can trust, and not learning about sex from other kids at school who might be just as clueless.