Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride: 25 Tales of Self-Love and Community

Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride: 25 Tales of Self-Love and Community — page 3
FOREWORD Dear Rebels My elementary school years were a magical time filled with adventure friendships and games But in middle school everything felt different I became more serious anxious and lonely I didn't feel comfortable in a body that was changing and turning me into a teenager I felt disconnected from my classmates who had been my closest friends until that point and everyone seemed to be more confident than me More than anything I could not understand why boys and girls were suddenly considered opposite teams I had spent my childhood climbing trees running in the olive groves skateboarding jumping in the river and pretending to be Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Why were all these things suddenly not considered appropriate for a girl Over and over again I found myself making choices that were different from the girls around me One cold winter day I met my cousin Angelica at a Carnival parade a celebration with costumes and masks Waiting for me on our town's main street she was wearing a look that was quite popular among teenagers at the time blue hair torn jeans metal chains military boots and black makeup Angelica was a perfect punk I will never forget the look on her face when she saw me approaching dressed like a chicken My mom took a picture of us which has since become a family heirloom Angelica looking perplexed and me smiling proud of my white onesie with a tiny red crest on top I have a feeling that my confusion would have been much easier to navigate had I held a book like this in my hands You see what I didn't know at the time was that there is not just one way to be a girl just as there is not one way to be a boy I didn't know that the range of possibilities in front of me was much greater than the rigid binary choice between male and female that seemed like the only option This book is a celebration of those possibilities That's why it's called Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride I am so proud of these stories because they