Growing up is one of the harshest things to go through, and you can go ahead and make fun of me for being unfamiliar with reality and the facts of life and thinking such a thing. But, think about it, we didn’t ask to be born, we’re thrown into this thing called life and expected to swim and survive as if we’re pros of some kind. But, the process is ten times more difficult for women, and people of marginalised communities. And this entire phenomenon has sparked some curiosity in us and has us wondering about how women view the experience of transitioning from girlhood to womanhood.
1. “The audacity of men.”
2. “How powerful I have become. I was abused all throughout my childhood and essentially had no voice. Now it seems I have a powerful presence that is at times intimidating. Strange.”
– Kingettevi·
3. “I always thought, as a little girl, that women and little kids were protected in society. Now that I’m a woman, I realize we are the most vulnerable, sadly.”
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4. “Childhood me had no idea what lurked in the minds of grown men. They went from my protectors to eying me up and down like a piece of candy. I miss having the innocence of a child. It is sad to me how sex is shoved in your face and that you’re just expected to like it. Blossoming into a beautiful young lady felt like I joined the meat market. My beauty & body far outweighed my brains & brawn. Definitely a wake-up call.”
5. “Growing up I just assumed I would have kids, but in my 30s I realized I didn’t want them at all. I really didn’t expect that.”
6. “I dreamed about a beautiful wedding, a beautiful partner, and beautiful children. When I hit puberty, I knew I would never have children, and at that point realized how expensive weddings are.”
– MikGusta·
7. “How many girls play video games just like me. In my neighborhood, I was the weird kid who played video games. It’s nice knowing that I’m not alone.”
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8. “People will literally go out of their way to hurt you. There are people with bad intentions in this world. People who will use you and abuse you. Even people you love or feel closest to can do the worst to you.”
9. “How the world hates women. How this world is made for men. How women give, give, give and give, and we are expected to ask nothing in return and always be grateful. Things are changing of course, but you know.”
– mrmadam
10. “That my parents were once the age I am today & I have a lot more compassion for what they went through/the decisions they made.”
11. “That being an attractive or conventionally good-looking woman can often make you a target in society rather than someone with pretty privilege benefits. The truth is that women are hated for almost everything, for being unattractive to men, for being so attractive to men that you intimidate them and the women who themselves are agents of the patriarchy, for being sexual, for not being sexual, for being sensitive, for not being as sensitive as the women around, for being too logical (because you might just upstage a man accidentally with your reasoning abilities). And so on, and so forth. You realise that women really are marginalised from society. You have no home, you have nothing of your own, you can barely even claim the things you build with your bare hands and efforts.”
– Harshita Singh
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12. “The fact that the world will always be unfair to women.”
– Snigdha
13. “I studied in a girls’ school, so I grew up in a very protected environment. This also meant that I never knew that raising my voice required effort, because that was the norm among women. After school, I was made to feel that saying things would have a consequence, that I’d be called hysterical by men, for being angry. Just this, the feeling of not getting a space to say things was my first realization of womanhood.”
– Manya
14. “To be honest, this transition is much more than just a physical transition – it’s more holistic. When I went through this transition, I realised that it’s okay to say no – whether it’s your family, friends or a total stranger.”
– Aaliyah
Sometimes a realisation of empowerment, sometimes a realisation of the massive oppression we’ve faced, growing up and becoming women
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