If you ask me, I think that puberty was super hyped up in movies and TV shows, and the reality was a lot more anticlimactic. I didn’t have any high expectations of what my body would morph into over those years, and honestly, the changes usually happen so gradually that aside from getting my period, there weren’t many “WOW” inducing puberty moments that stood out to me. I just entered it innocently, and exited with big boobs, blood gushing from my vag, and a lot of body hair.
Bodies are weird. This is true all the time, basically, but especially true (as I am sure many of you have already noticed) when you’re a teenager. One day your body is one way, then, over the course of a few months–or a few weeks, in some cases–it transforms into something…else. You aren’t positive what this new form is, or why it’s even happening, really, you just know that it’s different. Some of you might welcome the change, while others are more like, “full stop, please–I definitely did not ask for boobs at this point in my life,” but, no matter what, it’s changing and there’s not much you can do about it. Yup, welcome to puberty.
I got my first period when I was 10-years-old, just a few months shy of turning 11. I was about to start the sixth grade, and while I was definitely sprouting body hair and growing tiny tits, I didn’t feel a surge of maturity. I felt awkward about the fact that I had to deal with blood coming out of my vagina for days, and I definitely felt weird about the fact that I was one of less than a handful of girls in the sixth grade that had their period (as far as I knew, that is). I associated periods with teenagers, not girls who were still in elementary school like I was. After talking to my mom, I discovered that she also started her period on the younger side; I’m not going to lie, I remember not-so-silently blaming her for passing on the early period curse to me.
Like double-edged swords? If so, you’ll absolutely love puberty. It’s one of those things that, before it happens, seems like the only thing that matters. Everyone else, it would appear, has gone through it and they’re all wearing bras and exchanging tampons and pads in the locker room like some sort of secret post-pubescent code. Everyone, that is, except for you. But once it actually happens? It’s underwhelming. Kind of like, “Oh. That’s…it?” You find that it’s not some big, momentous event of Becoming A Woman, but rather a series of awkward, disjointed occurrences–your boobs gradually getting a little bigger, finding weird patches of hair in unexpected places–that, after they all add up, aren’t actually that big of a deal.
Going through puberty is weird and awkward no matter when it happens, but let’s be real: hitting puberty early, way before you’re ready for it, can be the weirdest. It might seem cool to get there before any of your friends, but when it’s happening to you, it’s actually terrifying. You feel alone and confused as you go through early puberty, scrambling to figure things out even though it feels like no one can help you. Your friends say they’re jealous of your periods and bras, but they literally don’t know what they’re asking for. Sure, some perks are great (cleavage! Carrying around tampons like an adult!), but there is a plethora of awkwardness that is so hard to deal with.
Underwear might seem simple enough, but every girl knows that it can easily become complicated and, well, kind of weird down there. Besides the fact that vaginas are super sensitive and need to be in a happy environment that never changes in order to stay healthy, they also do things to your underwear that not everyone loves talking about (although I know every girl reading this knows what I’m talking about). These things can lead to some embarrassing questions about underwear that you might be ashamed to ask anyone.
