I’m a girl,
And I have two brothers.
I’ve always been told that I’m a “reckless” person.
But like I said,
I’m a girl who was brought up around two brothers.
What was I supposed to be like, then?
There was obviously a chance I’d turn out this way.
People have been treating me like a boy ever since I was little.
That didn’t bother me,
Because I was never really drawn to girly things anyway.
But things changed when I got older.
I wanted to fall in love,
And have someone fall in love with me,
And all that.
But I was always seen as the guy friend.
So I started changing the way I dressed.
I dressed more girly.
People started commenting,
Saying things like,
“We’re not used to seeing you dress like that,”
And “Is there a reason behind why you’ve started dressing like that?”
Even though there was no special reason or anything.
I had grown up,
And I was a girl.
Dressing girly was normal.

The thing is,
It wasn’t just friends who’d known me since forever,
And had seen how I’d changed over time.
When I fell in love and had a boyfriend,
He, too, treated me like one of the guys.
Whenever I’d get upset with him, for example,
Like any girl might,
I was told,
“What’s the matter with you?
You need to toughen up.”