It’s me, Crystal.
Last night I accidentally landed on a documentary about the person who singlehandedly made me a reader, Judy Blume.
As I watched it; it occurred to me that she probably covertly also set a lot of other values of mine (and millions of other humans).
My Judy Blume days technically started in 4th grade. I don’t remember much about 4th grade, but I do remember Mrs. Wilson reading us “Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing.” It was funny. Before her reading this book to us, I had no idea chapter books could be funny.
In 5th grade, I got the boxed set. I eventually read all 5 books, but like others (I hope), I went straight to the goods to start my read; “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”
This book was THE thing discussed in my peer circle at Evergreen Elementary. There were quiet whispers about all that Margaret was going through. Much like there were quiet whispers about what some of us were starting to experience. And since I’m pretty sure I skipped the special school day about “our changing bodies”, this meant there was a lot of pressure on Margaret and Judy for my education.
The book did not disappoint. I’m pretty sure there was some stuff about God and whatever, but mostly I remember it normalizing all the feelings associated with wondering if you’re developmentally on track. Bless her for doing that.
The documentary talked about how this was really revolutionary for the times. It showed commercials from the era where that business our bodies do monthly was referred to as “the curse.” But here was some New Jersey suburban mom telling millions of young girls that it’s okay. She had to fight to share her message. It’s pretty wild when you think about it, breaking barriers to discuss unavoidable biology. She appears fearlessly authentic about her passion to take away the power of secrets.
I know that Judy Blume wasn’t the inventor of importance of body autonomy or self awareness, but for a lot of girls she was very effectively getting those messages to burrow into brains and change future perspectives. Judy Blume couldn’t have gotten in to my brain if it weren’t for publishing, Mrs. Wilson, my mom, etc. But because all those things, her words did get in my head and proceeded to stay there for decades.
My love for Judy Blume books impassioned me so much that one of my two dream jobs was to be an author. The second was an attorney. If I’d known about social workers, it may have made my wish list seeing as how it requires a lot of writing and a lot of time in court.
Social work is similar to the dream jobs, but waaaaay different. Social work requires respect for the dignity and worth of a person and a lot of humor. You also have to be able to tackle uncomfortable topics. Sure, Judy Blume wasn’t talking about all the things that are challenges in people’s lives today. For instance, the moms in her books didn’t work let alone deal with other pressures; but the books still addressed many topics that seemed taboo.
It’s entirely possible that I would have become a social worker even if I’d never met Margaret or Sheila the Great. I mean, millions of those books were sold and we still have social worker openings so clearly not everyone who reads those books lands in my field.
**But just in case it is as simple as “those who read those books will be social workers”, here’s the link to how to apply for county social work positions 😊 https://g.co/kgs/1rKAW7
It’s also conceivable that I would have developed my attitudes about independence and the importance of demystifying biology without those reads as well. I’m thankful for the positive memories of the books either way.
Bifocals and Barbells 