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By Rebecca, January 12, 2011 3:42 pm

As I start to think about my forthcoming (and yet to be written) show, No Gender Left Behind, I’ve been mulling over what we’re taught about gender as we start to grow up, and how that impacts our perception of ourselves. I’ve been looking at information about puberty – as it has a lot to do with how we think of ourselves as gendered individuals – and here are some highlights I’ve found:

“When [boys hit] puberty, you get a sudden interest in girls.” – Squidoo.com

“No one can tell if a girl has her period just by looking at her.” – Avert.org

“Because of the surges in hormones during puberty, many girls feel moodiness at times, especially right before their periods. This is called premenstrual syndrome (PMS).” – WebMD.com

Boys puberty topics: Am I gay? Circumcision. Erections. Height. Is it normal? Love. Male genitals. Masturbation Penis foreskin. Penis size. Penis swelling. Pubic hair. Stages of puberty. Stages of the penis. Testicular diagram. Uncircumcised vs circumcised. Under arm hair. Wet dreams. Orchidometer. Miscellaneous questions.

Girls puberty topics: Breast Size. Can I get pregnant if? Female arousal. Female genitals. Gynecologist. Love. Masturbation. Menstruation. Stages of Breasts. Stages of Puberty. Stages of Pubic Hair. (All from Puberty101.com)

(Apparently male puberty is much more complicated than female, something I think deserves a whole ‘nother post.)

And from asking a friend: “I became a woman when I started calling myself a woman, and when I started referring to other women as women. When I stopped saying ‘oh, there’s this girl in my class’ instead of ‘oh, there’s this woman in my class.’”

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By Rebecca, January 3, 2009 4:00 pm

I am all over the place in new and exciting ways. Yesterday I was having a really good day until, for reasons not entirely clear in retrospect, I started crying at G. (Prompting her to say, “Oh my god, you’re 13,” which did make me laugh.)

So yeah. I’m going through puberty in a major way. The first time around wasn’t very fun, and this time (even if it’s going in a better direction) still isn’t too fun.

-R

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By Rebecca, August 1, 2008 3:08 am

Chicken pox is one of those rights of passage you’re supposed to go through as a child: You have the oatmeal bath, play connect-the-dots on your arm, get to stay home for a few days, and itch like you’ve never itched before. (Until that summer a few years later when you stumble into a poison ivy patch. My gods the itching was everywhere.) And then you’ve had chicken pox, and you don’t get it again. You’re immune. It’s over.

I had chicken pox three times growing up.

I’m not joking. I honestly had chicken pox three times. I had a very mild case, a horrible, itching-like-the-dickens case, and another very mild case.

I’ve decided puberty is like chicken pox.

No, really. It makes sense. Most people only go through puberty once. Most people only have chicken pox once. And yet, by my count, I’ve gone through puberty at least twice, arguably three times, and will probably have a forth in another couple weeks. Bear with me as I explain.

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