19 Oct G Day Story: Lindsey

Lindsey Whittaker is the Editor-in-Chief of Stylust Magazine. We thank her for sharing her G Day story!

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When I was in the sixth grade, going through puberty (and most specifically, getting my period) was a huge deal to me. It was an experience that I thought would forever change me. That life would purposefully draw a line, I would cross the line, and be instantly dubbed a woman. I sat in health class as they handed out samples of deodorant and panty-liners and thought to myself, I’m going on an adventure.

I was never really the cool girl but I wasn’t really a loner either. I had my group of friends and was very social but I did get picked on quite a bit. I thought by entering puberty, I would be a part of something huge, that I would be joining all the other girls in womanhood and it would instantly bond us and I could move past all the elementary school politics.

I was quite a late bloomer among my friends which only contributed more to my slight obsession with growing up. To say I was a little inquisitive is quite the understatement. I found myself asking anyone who I knew had “experienced womanhood” all about it. How did they go about their day normally, how did it feel, and how it all worked in general. I wanted to know everything about it and I thought that, since it was such a big deal, that other “women” would want to share with me all their tips and tricks. But what I experienced was quite the opposite. Any time I asked someone, she would get noticeably uncomfortable, change the subject, or act like it was no big deal. I quickly realized that this wasn’t something that was okay to just chat about.

For me, getting my period was definitely an adventure. Just not quite what I had mind. I think I may have just been a little too keen to speed up the process, to be an adult and be taken seriously. As a woman I think it is definitely a pivotal and essential moment in time for growth and on one hand, it is a huge deal. On the other hand it’s a very natural thing to experience and if there was one thing I wish would have been different in my experience, it would be to eliminate the stigma of talking about it.

As I’ve grown up and actually entered the adult world, I have been lucky to have women in my life who I can talk to about pretty much anything but I think had I had that early on I would have saved myself a whole lot of trouble.