screamjosifer: “After marching band ended in November of last year, I joined the wrestling team. I had never set foot on a mat before. The boys hated me for my lack of skill and for being a female in a male dominant sport. At my first meet, I stepped on the mat against my first real opponent and the referee threatened to disqualify me; my hair was long enough to be a hazard. My mother rushed down from the stands with a pair of scissors from her knitting bag and said, ‘Is this okay? I’m so proud of you.’
I nodded, and she chopped off my pony tail. Gone. And I wrestled.”
