adoléscere

For the rest, here is my work:

And from the text:

I remember feeling like I was blubbering beyond my skin.

I remember feeling like I was going through what my father called “my ugly duckling stage.” That confirmation hurt.

I remember feeling like there was nothing that would help me to be pretty. I didn’t have long perfectly straight blonde hair. I had brown, wavy hair, like my ancestors.

Then there were my newly sprouting breasts that never seemed to go through a bud stage. So that pair of straps were needed. No “training” bras for me. I jumped right in.

There were also the torturous sanitary napkin straps that sat on my hips and they were supposed to keep the pad in place between my legs while also preserving my virginity. I didn’t really understand the connection yet. I tried to change the pad and not make a mess. Then a summer camp counselor at “fat” camp loaned me a tampon. I guess that took care of two issues.

The garter belt also added to my torture. Meant to hold up individual stockings, they added to my stress and worry. Did they show? Were they in place so that no one could see the thicker tops of the stockings? Thankfully, pantyhose were soon to come.

The anxiety was constant… my plumpness only made it all harder. The transition at age maybe 11 was not a gentle one and caused me self-conscious stress for no reason.

Now, go sit with your knees demurely crossed at the ankle and your knees held tightly together. Strapped in, I could not manage to “sit like a lady.”

Artists
Margherita Abbozzo, Heddy Breuer Abramowitz, Debby Akam, Eileen Almares Noy,
Antonello Ghezzi, Judith Appleton, Sevim Arslan, Stefania Balestri, Daniela Balsamo,
Evelyne Baly, Roberta Barlati, Maddalena Barletta, Shweta Bist, Giusi Bonomo, Erica
Briani, Marina Buening, Emanuela Camacci, Myriam Cappelletti, Nani Cardenas, Lucilla
Catania, Maria Chiara Cecconi, Fabiola Cenci, Primarosa Cesarini Sforza, Caterina
Ciuffetelli, Cinzia Colombo, Lea Contestabile, Karmen Corak, Cristina Corradi Mello,
Elisa D’Arienzo, Sabrina Danielli, Guillermina De Gennaro, Petra de Goede, Kristien De
Neve, Ysabel Dehais, Connie Dekker, Francesca di Ciaula, Anna Maria Di Terlizzi,
Beatrice Donin, Ellen G., Stefania Fabrizi, Maura Falfan, Cristiana Fasano, Laura Fortin,
Simona Frillici, Elisabeth Frolet, Haruka Fujita, Gabriella Furlani, Stella Gallas,
Benedetta Galli, Antonella Gandini, Clara Garesio, Anita Guerra, Oriana Impei, Rosa
Jijon, Lucy Jochamowitz, Fariba Karimi, Maria Korporal, Katerina Kovaleva, Hanako
Kumazawa, Giusy Lauriola, Emanuela Lena, Gilda Leoni, Carolina Lombardi, Willy
Looyen, Adele Lotito, Roberta Maola, Judith Margolis, Florencia Martinez, Laura
Martinez, Cosetta Mastragostino, Emanuela Mastria, Carolina Mazzolari, Camelia
Mirescu, Flavia Mitolo, Patrizia Molinari, Daniela Monaci, Enza Monetti, Mahshid
Mussavi, Stefanie Oberneder, O.Lala, Elly Nagaoka, Silvia Noferi, Paola Paganelli,
Susan Harbage Page, Gianna Parisse, Claudia Peill, Daniela Perego, Marjo Postma,
Stefania Puntaroli, Marina Quaranta, Claudia Quintieri, Francesca Ricci, Giulia
Ripandelli, Paola Romoli Venturi,Virginia Ryan, Carla Sacco, Lizzy Sainsbury, Lorella
Salvagni, Sandford&Gosti, Lucia Sapienza, Monica Sarandrea, Natalia Saurin, Roberta
Savelli, Caterina Sbrana, Barbara Schaefer, Simoncini Tangi, Son Hyunsook, Silvia
Stucky, Serena Tani, Olga Teksheva, Cinzia Tellarini, Antonia Trevisan, Cetti Tumminia,
Daniela Tzvetkova, Ankie Van Dijk, Mara van Wees, Laura VdB Facchini, Margherita
Verdi, Maria Irene Vairo, Luisa Valenzano, Ruchika Wason Singh, Tatyana Yang, Virginia
Zanetti.