preview

I Was a Tomboy

Better Essays
Open Document

I was a tomboy. Not a tomboy in the sense that most people think of one, but in the way that all adventurous, curious little girls are. I played kick ball at recess. I wore Bart Simpson sweatshirts. I played Indians. I went fishing. Somewhere along the way, I've lost some of that tomboy in me. It's interesting that when changes come in my life, although the change has probably been brewing for some time, there is usually one event that seems to mark that change. So when I look back, I think of the change as before and after that one event. It's no surprise, then, that I remember one distinct event which, in my mind, was the point of my return from Never-Never Land -- the event that marked my transition from my protected place, my …show more content…

This went on until the spring of my fifth grade year, when in gym class we began preparing for the Fun Run, an end of the year race for all fifth grade students in the Cedar Rapids area. I came home, excitedly telling my mom about the race. I told her I bet I would see all of my church friends at the race -- maybe I could even run with some of them! Later the week, Mom drove me out to JC Penney's and insisted that I pick out a bra to wear for the Fun Run. I was humiliated -- I walked out of the store, telling her to pick it out herself. As we walked around the rest of the mall, I hid the bag under my shirt because I was scared that people would be able to see through the bag, and think to themselves, "Now why is that little girl carrying around a bra?"



As the big race day began approaching, I got more and more nervous. What if people would be able to see through my shirt? They would know that I wasn't like them anymore, that I was somehow older. On the day of the Fun Run, even though it was 90 degrees outside, I wore two shirts. No one would know my dirty secret.



Up until the day when I had to wear that bra, I had felt free to be whatever I wanted. When I put on that bra, I felt changed, different somehow. Putting that bra on was like stamping me with a label -- I was now officially a young woman, there was a set of rules to go by. Society had taught

Get Access
Related
Get Access