Thursday 14 June 2012

The Mystery of Puberty, Part 1


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)

23 comments:

Jane said...

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.

turquoisemoon said...

Ugh!!! My granddaughter is at that age...

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

I 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.

jadedj said...

Somewhat 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.

Anonymous said...

well I can't wait for part two,

A Beer for the Shower said...

Ah 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?

Bersercules said...

Well that never happened to me! I never started noticing boys! Though I have always been interested in girls...

(I guess I'm kind of a weirdo for liking intelligent woman!)

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i was hell bent on boys even before puberty!

SUZY8-TRACK said...

I'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!

laughingwolf said...

more to women than boobs...

i 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

Winter P. Dawson said...

Awaiting part two.

Lois said...

I 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.

mxtodis123 said...

Those 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.
Mary

Wendy S. said...

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.

Riot Kitty said...

Men 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.

The Dancing Crone said...

Jeesh! 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.

Victoria said...

fabulous read...looking forward to more!

yellowdoggranny said...

I see a gym teacher in the horizon

Pearl said...

I didn't hit puberty, it seemed, until 11th grade.

And THEN I was in trouble...

Pearl

Workingdan said...

I remember when I was so proud to grow all that hair....now I wish it would stop!

Magaly Guerrero said...

I 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...

Annie said...

I'm with Workingdan!

Dancing With Fey said...

Notice where Stephenie is looking... :)