I got my first bra when I was in the second grade, but I started developing actual breast tissue at a very early age, maybe 3 or 4. My mother took me to the doctor when she realize how rapidly my young body was developing and he thought it may have been attributed to some of the products she was using on my hair, but she never received a real answer; I got my period when I was 11 years old. By that time I was already in a C cup and I looked much older than my skinny white friends. Although I continued to play sports and hang out with my friends, I became increasingly aware and subsequently embarrassed by my developing and rapidly changing body. I had a few friends who were developing at the same alarming rate, but while their interest turned to boys and wanting to be grown up I was trying to figure out ways to hide my body, so my weight gain commenced.
The medical community and society at large is finally waking up and paying attention to the early onset of puberty and how it affects the lives of young girls. This is an issue that’s very near and dear to my heart, not only because I went through it but I also work with girls who are going through puberty at a young age and are dealing with the fallout of hormones and the shifts in their body before they are ready. I attribute a substantial part of my weight gain as a girl to early puberty mainly because the more I developed the less active I wanted to be. Having the body of a woman at 12 years of age also brought on a lot of unwanted attention from older men and boys, but it also positively triggered my awareness and sensibilities about feminism and my desire to be a leader and take a stand against sexism and violence against women and girls. I wish more of my peers would have developed these sensibilities along with me, but many of them were casualties of the early puberty war: sex before they were ready, babies by 14, getting abortions that were decided upon by other people and having no say in the matter.
When I was in college I worked at a local church with a group of middle school girls and we often played a lot of games and did other activities to keep the girls active. Well, one of the girls in our group was a really great basketball player and wanted to eventually play in high school, but then something happened, her breasts started growing at a very rapid rate. So one day when I came back to the group I noticed that she was no longer her fun, carefree self and she did not want to play with the other girls. All of the other girls in the group still looked like little girls while she was turning into a woman, physically at least, well before she was ready. It scares me to see an 8 year old girl with the breasts of a woman three times her age, because that means the world is coming for her much sooner than anticipated and she has no choice but to get prepared.
Just for the record, I have been talking about this issue for the past 10 years, at least, so I hope we’ll start to have a real dialogue about young girls and their bodies, and weight and body image issues. Because many of these young girls who develop early gain a lot of weight and turn into obese adults who are all of a sudden being blamed and punished for what their bodies have done.
Growing up with a woman’s body and thereby having woman’s body problems at an early age was not a fun experience, but it is another constant reminder of why taking care of my body is so important to me.
Did you go through puberty at an early age or develop early? I’d like to hear about your experience.
