Give Me Back My Girlhood
On celebrating my femininity instead of repressing it
2007—Nine-year-old Annie signs up for the youth basketball team, despite having no interest in the sport (or any sport, for that matter). Justin likes sporty girls, girls who tie their hair back in a ponytail and wear Nike running shorts even when they aren’t running; girls who aren’t afraid of sweat or scabbing up their knees.
2010—Twelve-year-old Annie watches all six Star Wars movies in one weekend so that she can wow Daniel with her encyclopedic knowledge of the films come Monday morning. Never mind that she wasn’t terribly interested in them, or that the only scene out of twenty or so hours worth of film was Han and Leia’s kiss–she will impress him with her love of sci-fi and appreciation for George Lucas’s sparkling writing.
2012—Fourteen-year-old Annie listens exclusively to Mumford and Sons and the Lumineers for Alex. She talks at length about how their music means something, not like so many of those sappy love songs other girls were listening to. And nobody has ever looked cooler wearing a little hat and playing the banjo.
Young Annie was a cool girl with cool interests. She was down to play Super Mario Bros. or binge-watch a whole season of Breaking Bad. She proudly hosted an Anti-Homecoming dance with her four like-minded…
