Owch

But now I only chase who I am and I still like the idea of
altering the body I was born with in ways that have
nothing to do with weight, or hair, or looks.

01.28.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 094

PANEL 093

PANEL 094

I started out doing things to my body because I was
running after ways to show the world who I wasn’t .

01.28.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 093

Till I discovered waxing from my friend Nicole.

01.07.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 092

PANEL 091

PANEL 092

After that I switched to creams.

01.07.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 091

Although she missed a key point.

01.07.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 090

PANEL 089

PANEL 090

01.07.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 089

Gail also taught me about body hair..

01.07.10

in comics, ouch

PANEL 088

PANEL 087

PANEL 088

Eventually I worked up the courage to buy one of my own
with money I earned from dog walking.

12.18.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 087

12.18.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 086

PANEL 085

PANEL 086

I wore my borrowed bra everyday and washed it in the
sink to avoid dealing with my mom’s questions.

12.18.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 085

Thank God in Gail’s family things were different.

12.18.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 084

PANEL 083

PANEL 084

11.23.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 083

Attempt number two:

11.23.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 082

PANEL 081

PANEL 082

Attempt number one:

11.23.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 081

Added to that was the embarrassing
thought that my mom might want to
discuss what was going on. So I hid
them as best I could.

11.23.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 080

PANEL 079

PANEL 080

Despite my knowledge I was uncomfortable when
I started developing breasts..

11.23.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 079

My body information came from several sources: friends,
magazines, books, friends.

11.19.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 078

PANEL 077

PANEL 078

Too timid to buy tampons I stole hers.

11.19.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 077

When I got my period at fourteen I didn’t tell my mom.

11.19.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 076

PANEL 075

PANEL 076

And for five of the longest minutes ever I thought the
world would end.

11.19.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 075

I was mortified, but I was curious.

11.19.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 073

PANEL 072

PANEL 073

11.13.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 072

11.13.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 071

PANEL 070

PANEL 071

…when I was twelve and went to sleep away camp.

11.13.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 070

The closest we ever came was…

11.13.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 069

PANEL 068

PANEL 069

11.13.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 068

My mom and I never talked about body and sex stuff.

11.06.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 067

PANEL 066

PANEL 067

Six years earlier I’d been ashamed of them.

11.06.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 066

My breasts were one of my few body parts I liked.

11.06.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 065

PANEL 064

PANEL 065

Once at home I couldn’t stop admiring my new rings.

05.29.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 064

05.29.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 063

PANEL 062

PANEL 063

The whole thing only took a few minutes. Maybe just three or four.

05.29.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 062

05.29.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 061

PANEL 060

PANEL 061

05.29.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 060

05.21.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 059

PANEL 058

PANEL 059

My one worry was quickly put to rest.

05.21.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 058

05.21.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 057

PANEL 056

PANEL 057

I got my nipples pierced just after Christmas.

05.21.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 056

05.21.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 055

PANEL 054

PANEL 055

05.21.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 054

A few months after the mom shopping debacle I was
walking home when a sign caught my eye.

04.30.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 053

PANEL 052

PANEL 053

And she read all the right books.

04.30.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 052

She worked, she enjoyed the twenty-four hour culture of New York City,…

04.30.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 051

PANEL 050

PANEL 051

She lived with her older boyfriend who was twenty-one.

04.30.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 050

The current me just didn’t do conventional.

04.30.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 049

PANEL 048

PANEL 049

I wasn’t doing it to her.

04.30.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 048

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 047

PANEL 046

PANEL 047

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 046

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 045

PANEL 044

PANEL 045

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 044

Needless to say it didn’t go over well when my mother,
trying to bond, took me shopping.

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 043

PANEL 042

PANEL 043

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 042

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 041

PANEL 040

PANEL 041

It was only a matter of
weeks before I returned..

04.16.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 040

Because I was eighteen and I could..

04.02.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 039

PANEL 038

PANEL 039

I was not choosy about my first tattoo. It was something I
did on a whim.

04.02.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 038

So I turned to other forms of body art to reflect my
evolving identity.

04.02.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 037

PANEL 036

PANEL 037

That put me off piercing for a while.

04.02.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 036

…and while the results were spectacular, they were also
less than ideal.

04.02.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 035

PANEL 034

PANEL 035

…and then I went for the cartilage.

03.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 034

I kept piercing till there wasn’t any lobe left…

03.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 033

PANEL 032

PANEL 033

for another personality to emerge.

03.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 032

was an opportunity

03.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 031

PANEL 030

PANEL 031

every new hole in my ear

03.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 030

Like dying my hair

03.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 029

PANEL 028

PANEL 029

By then Gail and I were no longer little girls who asked
our mommies for approval. We were rebels and
we knew where we stood.

03.04.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 028

…but perfect was hardly the goal.

03.04.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 027

PANEL 026

PANEL 027

Of course our results were far from perfect…

03.04.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 026

03.04.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 025

PANEL 024

PANEL 025

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 024

The next time I pierced my ears I was newly fifteen and
no longer cared about asking permission.

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 023

PANEL 022

PANEL 023

I showed all of my friends.

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 022

Just like that I was a new person.

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 021

PANEL 020

PANEL 021

I couldn’t stop admiring my ears.

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 020

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 019

PANEL 018

PANEL 019

In under two minutes it was done.

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 018

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 017

PANEL 016

PANEL 017

02.24.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 016

I was excited and a little nervous when she used a red
sharpie to mark the places for the holes.

01.28.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 015

PANEL 014

PANEL 015

01.28.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 014

But I had eyes for only one thing.

01.28.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 013

PANEL 012

PANEL 013

It was filled with every imaginable bauble.

01.28.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 012

A few weeks after I was an official teenager, grandma
took me to a store she knew on Madison Avenue.

01.28.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 011

PANEL 010

PANEL 011

01.22.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 010

My grandmother took accessories seriously and when I
went to her house she let me roam free in her closets.

01.22.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 09

PANEL 08

PANEL 09

She always said yes when mom said no. And she was the
one who took me clothes shopping.

01.22.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 08

She kept them in her purse.

01.14.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 07

PANEL 06

PANEL 07

She was totally American except for one thing: She stuck
sugar cubes underneath her tongue when drinking tea.

01.14.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 06

Grandma came to this country when she was seven.

01.14.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 05

PANEL 04

PANEL 05

Grandma had her ears pierced forever..

01.14.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 04

01.14.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 03

PANEL 02

PANEL 03

I couldn’t stop admiring my ears.

01.07.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 02

01.07.09

in comics, ouch

PANEL 01

OWCH

PANEL 01

01.07.09

in comics, ouch

OWCH

it hurts until it doesn’t anymore.

01.07.09

in comics, ouch