Breast Buddies
for the most part i'm very aware of my body although this doesn't stop me from bumping into corners or breaking glasses with a gesture. i'm aware when my body changes, when something doesn't feel right and i always want to know why and what and how come. as a light hypochondriac, i start to be anxious when i don't know the explanation for something.
my parents were very open about telling us about birth and puberty. they also helpfully provided "what's happening to me?", a guide to puberty and "where did i come from?", aimed at younger children and in which sex is notably described as a really pleasant big sneeze. menstruation, no problem, i was prepared for menstruation. who hadn't read "are you there god? it's me, margaret"? what i was not ready for was the little sore lump i found under my left nipple one day on a weekend when my mother was not home. dad had no clue what it was either.
after an anxious day or two and the arrival of a second identical lump under my right nipple i figured it out. it wasn't until much, much later after talking to a girlfriend that i found out this phenomenon has a name: the breast bud. breast buds: the first stage of breast development during puberty; small swellings directly underneath the nipple. it infuriated me then and it gets me more than a little annoyed now. why didn't anyone tell me!? i didn't expect my chest would swell over night but no one said anything about small painful lumps or that one would start before the other. take a couple of minutes and tell me about breast tissue. they were too worried making sure that we knew that masturbating wouldn't bring lightning or furry palms down upon us.
other kids likely had other similarly anxiety producing moments and i think i was probably quite well informed which is why the absence of this information pissed me off so much.
my parents were very open about telling us about birth and puberty. they also helpfully provided "what's happening to me?", a guide to puberty and "where did i come from?", aimed at younger children and in which sex is notably described as a really pleasant big sneeze. menstruation, no problem, i was prepared for menstruation. who hadn't read "are you there god? it's me, margaret"? what i was not ready for was the little sore lump i found under my left nipple one day on a weekend when my mother was not home. dad had no clue what it was either.
after an anxious day or two and the arrival of a second identical lump under my right nipple i figured it out. it wasn't until much, much later after talking to a girlfriend that i found out this phenomenon has a name: the breast bud. breast buds: the first stage of breast development during puberty; small swellings directly underneath the nipple. it infuriated me then and it gets me more than a little annoyed now. why didn't anyone tell me!? i didn't expect my chest would swell over night but no one said anything about small painful lumps or that one would start before the other. take a couple of minutes and tell me about breast tissue. they were too worried making sure that we knew that masturbating wouldn't bring lightning or furry palms down upon us.
other kids likely had other similarly anxiety producing moments and i think i was probably quite well informed which is why the absence of this information pissed me off so much.
posted by kristin at 11/16/2006 10:23:00 p.m.
4 Comments:
Well nobody's said anything so I'll say it first. Damn!! A whole blog entry devoted to the breast.
So I think I was pretty oblivious about the breast bud. But my expectations for sex ed were pretty low. My mom tried to tell me about menstruation long after I read about it or heard about it in school. She herself learned next to nothing until she was well out of her teens!
I once went on a trip to England with a girl I was dating. Prior to that trip, my mom decided that it was time to give me the talk about the birds and the bees. I was 25.
tamka, hi! did you sit and patiently listen or cut her short?
I just kinda said "ok, ok, I know" and rolled my eyes. It was reasonably short and done over the phone, so at least I didn't have to face her while this was happening.
Post a Comment
<< Home