When I was a young Zoggling, I used to read novels intended for a young audience. Many of said books were penned by Judy Blume, and of course were about the sultry, lusty thoughts of pre-adolescent girls. Oh my.
But enough of that. Pretty much all these vapid characters ever talked about was developping and of course, much was made of becoming a woman. Becoming a woman pretty much meant going on the rag. And many tears were shed because they were never going to get it, or their friends had it first, or their friends lied about it, or whatever. It was the ultimate. The Mount Everest of girlhood. It wouldn’t have had an effect on me- it’s just that it popped up in so many of her books. I mean, I’m female and it started to creep me out a bit…
I was always the opposite. I never wanted to menstruate (well I was a varied young Zoggling- I also read Carrie!). I suppose I was terrified of growing older and having horrible things happen to my body. Hm. I still am. So either I can conclude that Ms. Blume had a horrible complex about Aunt Flo’s visits, or young girls really do think about developping. I dunno…for me, it just happened, and there wasn’t a whole lot of navel gazing “When am I going to start bleeding?”
I did read other books, though. In Louise Fitzhuigh’s The Long Secret, the characters aren’t terribly keen about it- which was something I could relate to.
(Sigh. Yes, before the first male doper makes the obligatory “Aww, someone’s got her monthly bill” remark, I’m on my period and damned bitter about it, I might add.)
So were you guys in a rush for it to happen? Were you afraid? Were you breezy and nonchalant? Or was it an all of the above situation?
Did you have a really self-assured group of friends? Because my groups of friends made getting our periods a competition (ala Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret), and I, being the youngest and getting mine the last, was kinda out of the “cool” loop for awhile. So, while not exactly thrilled about the impending cramps, bleeding, and pads, I was anxious about getting reassurance from my body that I was normal. Same thing with bra size, boyfriends, and first kisses; my group of friends were highly competitive. Probably one of the reasons I have no close girl friends as an adult.
Fortunately I had some sort of school education about the whole matter shortly before the big event. So I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t looking forward to the inconvenience. I was the first to wear a bra in my class.
My best friend and I had a running competition from the age of eight. Boobs, bras, pube hair, periods, boyfriends, husbands, kids.
I won every time, until we reached satisfying long-term careers.
Seeing as how puberty started @ 9 for me…uhmm.NO! I was the first girl in my grade with my period. First girl who started to get boobs. My friends would say how I was lucky. I used to think it was just a horrible embarrassing experience.
I was proud and happy when my period started at age 11. We didn’t tend to discuss who had and hadn’t started yet. There was definitely a kind of competitive aspect to needing a bra. I was an AA cup until I was about 19, and I hated being flat chested.
I didn’t mind… At least, I knew it would happen sooner or later, why be anxious? And I was an early starter… I wish I could have gotten around not using a bra for longer than I did…sigh
When my mam first told me about periods my first reaction was “Nuh-uh, no way, not to me”.
I was the first in my class to get boobs and wear a bra but other than that boobs & periods were just an inconvenience that would be around for a long time.
I didn’t look forward to it, but perhaps that’s becasue I was one of the early ones. My daughter, who’s almost 13 can’t wait, becasue she believes all her friends when they say that they’ve started menstruating (even though I’m sure some of them are lying) ,even though she’s been told (by friends and cousins) that after the first time, it’s just inconvenient.
Yes. Honestly, I’d sit and read “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” and wonder why SHE started menstruating in 6th grade, and here I was, in MIDDLE SCHOOL, still waiting.
On Nov 12, 1993, I was in eighth grade when I finally started. What a frickin’ nightmare. I begged to give it back
Absolutely not. I was a tomboy, and did NOT want to be associated with something that essentially proved to me yes, I’m female. I also just didn’t want the hassle, and didn’t want to have to start acting like a woman–you know, bras and all. I was not at all interested in being feminine.
It didn’t help that I was first in my class. I wore a bra before anyone else (5th grade, which was at least a year after I actually needed one–I resisted for as long as my Mom would let me) and started menstruating the summer between 5th and 6th grade.
I suppose part of what I hated was that I was the first–none of my friends or other girls were talking about it, so there was no “oh, boy, did you get yours?” kind of thing. In fact, I had girls snapping my bra straps in 5th grade (boys seemed a bit glassy eyed and never did such a thing), and then spreading rumors that I’d gotten my period and had been going around bragging to the whole school about it. Um…no.
I didn’t know anything about it until I got it at 11 years old. I ended up talking to my school principal, a nun, about it. She told me it was normal and after that, I hated every month and still do.
Ditto for me! Except I was in the 6th grade, and the 2nd girl in my class to wear a bra – first place went to a girl who was the tallest of anybody, boys or girls.
First time I was embarrassed beyond belief – it happened during a Girl Scout overnight, and it just, well…came all over the place without warning :eek:
I was in a group of five friends, and I was next to last to get the visit from the Cardinal. Boy, was I glad I wasn’t last!! It’s a rite of passage, I think, a sign you’re growing up. However, I didn’t have to wear a bra on the Ladies until after the first kiddo was born…I got stretch marks on my breasts for crying out loud, but not on my stomach.
I read AYTGIM,M, and I have to agree the competition for stuff like that is not uncommon.
At first, no, it seemed like a hassle…
But I hit puberty very late - practically 15 (I was over halfway through my sophomore year in high school - the boobs didn’t really show up until the late college years), I had started school a year early - so all my friends had started way before that, my younger sister already had, a year earlier, and I was, by that time, thoroughly convinced I was a freak of nature.
So, from not caring to a minor obsession. Once it finally happened, no big deal.
I honestly can’t remember if I wanted boobs, since I got them so early and so big so fast. I don’t want 'em NOW. Getting followed around by grown men in cars when I was 11 was really creepy.
My friends and classmates didn’t keep each other informed about our periods. As far as I can recall, I only know when one person other than me started her period. She was my best friend in high school. Everyone else spared me from that information.
I was definitely in no hurry to get my period. I am looking forward to losing it.
I was the first (as far as I know) in my class to get their period. I was in sixth grade, and my breasts were always starting to grow a fair amount (the boys would snap my bra if I wore it, so usually I didn’t).
By the time I changed schools to 7th grade, I still wasn’t wearing my bra, didn’t think it was a big deal, until someone sent me an “anonymous note” letting me know that I should wear one or they’d tell the whole school (as if the whole school couldn’t see, but the tactic did work on my 12 year old mind).
I was pretty much indifferent to the whole maturity thing…I didn’t have all that many close friends, but the couple I did never really mentioned it, except when I first told them. There was no competition or anything. I guess I took it in stride, since I figured there was nothing I could do about it. It was a hassle til college, because til then, I couldn’t figure out how to get tampons in.
I wanted my period soooo bad. Then my mom would take me on those special trips to the drugstore like she did my sister. And I would see that look of glowing pride on my mom’s face when she told her friends that I was ‘growing up’.
So when my period came, I got in trouble for ruining the sheets and mom gave me a box of pads and told me not to flush them down the toilet.
Nah. I wasn’t all that big on the idea of growing up, for one thing; I spent most of junior high trying to think of ways to sneak back into the sixth grade. The first time I had my period, I stayed up all night reading Star Wars books just to PROVE I was still a kid.
My mom tried to force me to wear a bra to school, which was sheer agony – I had to unbuckle the thing halfway through the day because I couldn’t stand the itching any longer. I still don’t wear them unless I’m wearing something that would make it blindingly obvious.
