WE WRITE HERE
  • AWARDED
  • Writing
  • FAQ
  • Supporters
  • Updates
  • Educators
  • Editors
  • Contact
  • Zine

We Write Here

Write to be creative, fearless, and free.
Latest Award: writer123 3/19/2023
STARTED IN OAKLAND, CA | SEND IN WRITING ANYTIME FROM ANYWHERE | 6th-12th GRADES
Submit Writing Here
Monthly email: awards - subscribe

Feminine Pressure

1/2/2022

 
Picture
Amira L, 7th- Oakland, CA
When I turned 12, I made a promise to myself to be healthy and workout every day. My older cousin gave me weights for my birthday. So I used them obsessively over the summer break.

I built strength quickly. My arms got big and muscular. I beat every single boy in the seventh grade at arm wrestling. Even the tall boys with deep voices who thought that a girl their age would never beat them. I loved it. I loved proving them wrong. Even this one boy who thought he was so strong because he “did weightlifting and boxing”. “Amira’s gonna crush you if you arm wrestle her.” I heard some boys at a table gossiping. Everyone wanted to know my secret.
At Shabbat dinner one night, my grandpa leaned over the table and said it was a fact of life in a matter of time those boys would beat me.
While my arms were toned, they were certainly bigger and thicker than any girl in my grade. I got kinda self-conscious about it. Thinking my strong arms made me “fat” or “not feminine enough.” So I stopped my HIIT arm workouts, watching my arms shrink, being able to feel a coat of fat if I squeezed my arm skin tight enough. Sacrificing my health because I thought it was beautiful to be weak. And the day came. I felt my arm slip as my fingers hit the table. All the boys cheered. Was my grandpa right?

Comments are closed.

    Authors

    Students 6th-12th Grades
    We Write Here!

    month

    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

donate: Writing awards


​Terms & Conditions 
 Sponsors
​


Copyright © 2018
  • AWARDED
  • Writing
  • FAQ
  • Supporters
  • Updates
  • Educators
  • Editors
  • Contact
  • Zine