‘Girlhood’ Looks At The Trauma Of Adolescence | Morning Joe | MSNBC

In her new book 'Girlhood,' author and professor Melissa Febos discusses the trauma of her adolescence and her experience of growing up in a female body that reached development at the age of 11.

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'Girlhood' Looks At The Trauma Of Adolescence | Morning Joe | MSNBC

49 comments

  1. When I was 12 and 13, I was paying for alchohol for 19 and 20 year olds I fit in older crowds easier than younger because kids didn’t want to play w me and P.E. running around the track boys getting yelled at for gawking it was so humiliating

    1. @Blake JonesII – lol, seriously, I’m still thinking through how this topic bugs me. I guess I’m tired of so many victims in the world, especially when I could easily claim to be a victim too. (No really, if you knew, I could claim all kinds of victimization). But, the world doesn’t care about my individual struggles. I’m not that important.

      Also … this is a 1st world problem. This never comes up if you a struggling in poverty. We are too busy trying to find food, water, shelter…ya know, the baseline of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs.

    2. @Cathrine Hendrickson please ignore @Blake JonesII. Ignore the trash. I care. Many of us can relate. Sisters supporting each other always triggers the weak men

    1. I’m 71 and it was the same for me. I always wonder how different those years would have been….

    2. The bias of NOT one of those news people from asking: “What do you say to people asking about the boyhood experience, and what they go through? This is obvious great for parents, but it seems anecdotal, and only covers girls”.

  2. Joe in the background shaking his head helplessly like a father wanting to help and understand

    1. @Real Gunfights that’s the truth lol… joe shaking his head like “why are there no photos in this book?”

  3. The number of times I had to ask men “How old do you think I am?” when I was teenager was very disturbing.

  4. It was always tough for me as I was full grown at 12 and all my friends were still so tiny. Then they all abandoned me overnight. Was awful. I found refuge with my older sister who was 13 years older than me. She was so supportive.

    1. I’m so glad you had your sister. This happened to me when my big sis was away at college. My newly developed body caught the attention of my best friend’s big brother (18yrs to my young 12 yrs). He took advantage (to put it much too nicely) and that ruined my only support system. My parents were getting divorced. Childhood was very quickly & completely ripped from me.
      I am so happy that this young woman had the audacity to write this book!

  5. Great interview. I thought the both of you handled the subject well. Tough one. Congrats. And of course she is fabulous!!! Way to prioritize having her on the show! Never even watched your show before.

    1. Intersting, I’m freaked out that they are focusing on this instead of reporting on China having spent the last 5 years planning on how to release COVID on the US people to debilitate the medical system in preparation for WW3…but, I guess if this story is more important to people, and COVID and WW3 don’t really matter….

  6. Nothin like being shamed into silence of the lambs – for boys and girls. Adults are such pigs – sometimes.

  7. This happened to me at 11. I did not have any support. Had to be the tough girl. It led me down a hard road. I am 60 now and learned so much. This is the 1st time I have ever heard anyone talk about this issue. Thank you for listening.

    1. No means no. Yes means maybe, or whatever I want when I change my mind, about how dirty I feel after, which is some else’s fault.

    2. I’m your age. It’s like they just ignored the changes or shamed you for what your body was doing. The attitude toward women was horrible then. Now talk about the body is common. It wasn’t that way 50 years ago. I was the tallest girl in the class also 5’8” I was Mortified . Girls are cruel too.

  8. When is somebody going to,write a book about how it feels to be a bright, quiet, nerdy boy who gets traumatized on a daily basis? Oh, wait. There is one. James Joyce. “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.”

    1. Feel free to write one. Try to avoid the tired MRA talking points and actually work it into context in an intelligent way about how the whole system is busted for everybody, and you can hit a bigger audience.

    2. @Justice McPherson I don’t think I could top James Joyce. You’ve read “Portrait,” haven’t you? It used to be required reading in any soph. lit. class, along with Orwell, and Conrad. There’s nothing like the classics to broaden the mind.

  9. Girls between the ages of 11 and 14 can be quite vicious. Early developers are not their sole victims.

    1. Late bloomer here…yeah kids are awful…one girl actually pointed out that I was not wearing a bra loudly while we were lining up to go in, 6th grade…I made my mom take me that weekend to bra shop…wore those training bras for years ( never learned anything). My younger sister was the opposite ( samemom, different dad), she was curvy from 10. Positive vibes from New Hampshire and remember to be kind to each other and yourself during this pandemic and social crisis.

  10. Yup developed early and suddenly sports seems to be off limits for the simple fact that some many people, esp boys, just made me feel ridiculously uncomfortable being healthy.

    1. My ballet class would tease me about how I should be toppling over while doing pirouettes. Funny how all alone us early developers felt, when obviously we were not the only ones

  11. She describes a transition which has happened to girls for millenia. It’s directly related to what ‘society’ allows males to do/say. Countries/cultures closer to the equator tolerate rudeness of that sort, more so than cooler countries/cultures.

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