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Post by aln1982 on Feb 20, 2008 17:22:13 GMT -5
I can relate to shaving my legs because I liked a boy (not because we were going to do anything but just because I wanted to look "more feminine") this was a really big deal for me because I waited (just to be "different" I think ;D) for way longer than all my friends and really didn't want to do it but got to the point where I was embarrassed to wear shorts. I always loved the part where Kristy says that her legs didn't feel different - just naked (or something like that, if I remember right.) ;D
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Post by greer on Feb 20, 2008 18:16:08 GMT -5
i waited too long to shave my armpits, which was embarrassing for the swimming unit at school.
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Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
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Post by Penny Lane on Feb 20, 2008 18:34:25 GMT -5
When I was on the swim team, we weren't allowed to shave our legs until finals. that included Homecoming, and any of the after game dances.
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Post by aln1982 on Feb 20, 2008 18:41:03 GMT -5
^ Why not? (reminds me of how my dad shaved his legs once for jr high track because he thought it would "cut down on wind resistance" ;D)
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Post by greer on Feb 20, 2008 18:42:04 GMT -5
i think it has to do with resistance to the water, and how if you don't shave it you'll get stronger and then when you do shave you'll be superfast.
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Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
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Post by Penny Lane on Feb 20, 2008 18:48:49 GMT -5
The hair follicles create drag. Same reason we practice wearing two or three swimsuits.
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Post by aln1982 on Feb 20, 2008 20:17:37 GMT -5
^ Okay. Thanks. I figured it was something like that. ;D That would be awful not being able to shave before homecoming, though. I guess thank goodness for long dresses, at least. ;D
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Post by wenonah4th on Feb 20, 2008 21:39:34 GMT -5
ugh, there was a girl who didn't shave legs or underarms who I had in a dance piece several years back. Since she was blonde, I didn't realize it when I put the costumes out and had her in a sleeveless dress. It was well, weird.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2008 19:27:07 GMT -5
I just finished the last Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book and I so thought of this thread as I did!At one point it starts talking about how paranoid Tibby always was that she would get her period while she was wearing the pants. It grossed me out a wee bit when I read it initially so I can only imagine how I would have felt if it had come up in some stage in the BSC!
Aln: I love your new signature!
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Post by aln1982 on Feb 25, 2008 20:20:38 GMT -5
^ Thanks. ;D A lot of the stuff in the Sisterhood books made me a bit uncomfortable too (though maybe I'm just weird ;D) so I'm really glad they didn't get so graphic about "personal" stuff. There are some things I just prefer not to think about. ;D
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Post by wenonah4th on Aug 31, 2009 9:02:31 GMT -5
Traveling PAnts is geared so much older, though.
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celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
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Post by celaeno on Aug 31, 2009 15:52:08 GMT -5
I didn't get my period until I was 13, and so I really got nervous when my friends brought up the subject before then. I was mortified by the fact I hadn't gotten it yet, and I was afraid of my friends finding out I hadn't gotten it yet. You know the scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin where all the guys find out he's a virgin? That's kinda how the scene in my mind played out. I imagined my friends finding out I hadn't started yet, and then they would belittle me.
I wasted too much of my childhood being terrified of looking immature (thought as kids we would say "babyish").
Looking back on it now, I think I may have started later because my mom didn't let us eat fast food (or any other hormone drenched food). So I guess I should be grateful about my late start!
I completely understand why they wouldn't write about periods in the books. These books were aimed at much younger crowds. Lots of 8-year-olds were reading them, so that means there would have been a substantial number of readers who weren't familiar with bodily changes yet. And, unlike Judy Blume books, these books were mostly based on external adventures - eg, catching robbers or winning contests. Judy Blume books were more about internal adventures - eg, growing up and dealing with bodily and emotional changes, so it makes sense she would write about more personal topics.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on the BSC and their monthly friends: -Stacey and Claudia would have started, I think. Stacey would be oh-so-sophisticated because she felt so grown-up getting hers. Claudia would probably get pretty bitchy (and would eat a lot more junk food). -Dawn would have started, I think. I always imagined her as on the more-developed end of the spectrum. As mentioned above, she would be into reusable pads and the Diva cup. -I could see Mary Anne getting hers during the course of the series. -I picture Kristy as not having started yet. I think someone above stated that they picture Kristy being really open and making gross jokes about periods (since she acts the same way other stuff, like school lunches). I actually picture her as the opposite of this. I picture her as loving gross humor, but being extremely embarassed by feminine things. I think she would get secretly embarassed by mentions of tampons and such. I picture her as staying really short, but then getting really busty in high school, and trying to hide her curves in huge sweatshirts. And her new curves would cause her some problems in her sports. -I think Abby would have started already. The film crew in SS#13: Aloha Baby-sitters believed her when she said she was 18, so she must be pretty developed! -I think Jessi wouldn't get hers for several years, due to her dancer's body with almost no fat. -I think Mallory would want hers sooooo badly because she wants to be grown-up. But due to the fact that life hates Mallory, she would keep waiting and waiting and she would feel like suuuuch a late bloomer.
Off topic: I would be sooo happy if Judy Blume wrote a third part to the Just As Long As We're Together and Here's to You, Rachel Robinson books. I LOVED those books in middle school!
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Post by booboobrewer on Aug 31, 2009 16:01:11 GMT -5
I could definitely see Mary Anne getting hers during the series and Kristy not, since that's how it goes with them and bras. Mary Anne suddenly gets one, and Kristy doesn't.
Word about Claudia and the junk food.
Re: Abby, isn't she described as being pretty tall? Maybe that was a reason the film crew thought she was older...
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Post by rainbowgirl28 on Aug 31, 2009 18:29:38 GMT -5
It seems like the average age a girl begins menstruation has gotten significantly younger since the series started. So back in the mid-80s, it probably made a lot of sense not to bring up the topic to 8-year-old girls, but nowadays most kids that age are at least aware of it.
I think if they were to write the series today, it would make sense to casually mention it like they did with bras, but I wouldn't want to see a whole book about it.
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Post by otempora541 on Aug 31, 2009 20:48:14 GMT -5
This is the order of period reciving: Dawn/Abby (maybe even Anna got hers earlier): pre series, maybe 6th grade for both. Abby can pass for 18 and Dawn seems to be more adult (although she is apprently, flat according to CD #1). Claudia seems to have gotten it maybe the summer before 7th grade (she apprently grew up quickly before the series began). I think Stacey's Emergancy could've been the Stacey got her period book. Same thing with MA: sometime in the series. Maybe Shannon's issues with her mom in her book stem from PMS ? Kristy might have gotten it much later on in the series. Maybe in friends forever era? Mallory might have gotten it right before she left for boarding school (explains her... pricklines and increased sensitivity). Jessi's period may depend on how seriously she pursues dance. I get this mental image of as soon as she quits dancing, period occurs. Personal experiances! I got mine two months before I turned 12, but had few close friends to discuss the effect, put I seem to be pretty avarage. I remember I once got my period at work, boyfriend picked me up, I stopped at my house, then totally forgot about supplies until I was in the car and told him : get me to a pharmacy!
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