• Proud Parents of This Great Kid

  by Kai Arrowood

  My mom called me to dinner. I swallowed thickly and emerged from my room, faintly practicing the lines I had prepared. It was the winter of 8th grade, and Christmas music was playing. Feeling light in my chair, as though I was going to fall out of it, I cleared my throat and told my family, “I have something to say.”

• Redefining Beauty for Myself

  by Anonymous

  In elementary school, my brother and I were too young to be left home alone, so my mother took us with her to her weekly Weight Watchers meetings. I spent my Sundays sitting cross-legged in a carpeted room with large windows and posters on the wall encouraging weight loss and healthier eating.

• How I Rejected What Others Think Girls Should Be

  by Lisbeth Martinez

  I grew up in the Dominican Republic. When I was in middle school, a group of girls wouldn’t play with me because they said I was ugly. “You look different and like a monkey,” one said. Most of the girls in my class were light-skinned with long straight hair, while my skin is dark and my hair is free with curls.

• Overcoming Bulimia

  by Anonymous

  Names have been changed. All my life, I was a big girl. Food was my best friend when I was young. I wanted to eat everything. I was attracted to the smell when my mom or older sister Gina would cook.

• Smut Page Survivor

  by Destiny Smith

  Names have been changed. One day I was in school, on my way from math class to lunch, when I saw a group of students hovering quietly over something. Curious, I made my way to the front of the circle so that I could see what was fascinating everybody.

• Why I’m Still a Virgin

  by T.B.

  The names in this story have been changed. In junior high school, a small group of my friends, mostly guys and one girl, started talking about girls in the class who they thought were fast. “I can tell Melinda is a tramp.