BEAUTY and the Beast (1991) had a huge impact on my childhood. Out of the many Disney protagonists, I related most to Belle for her love of books, her dreams of escaping a provincial, small town life and the loneliness that comes from being non-conforming.
The feeling of being the odd one out escalated for me as, at the ol’ ripe age of nine, I had my first menses. Hitting puberty at such a young age was a psychosocial struggle, not only for missing out on simply being a kid like most of my peers, but for all the jibes I had to endure about my body and the sudden shift in responsibilities that came with “being an adult”.
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