# data[].attributes.body
While I was about to take the line to my aunt's wedding introduction, I would continue to ask myself why I was in this red, noticeable dress. I did not like wearing dresses. I never wanted to be the center of attention. I did not like my shoulders being exposed. That is why my pose was not facing sideways. I wore my "I 'heart' boobies" bracelet to show my family how I decide what I wanted to wear. My aunt did my hair because I did not know how to do it. My mom picked my dress because I would not choose myself. At this moment, I felt girly and as if I was not normal. "Human bodies are not 'normal'" and that is what I would think of myself in this photo (Lorber and Moore 4). My gender identity is just me.

# data[].attributes.body
Although most of my life I have lived in a strict household that stops me from being myself, I do not fear the outcomes of change. This time in my life represented the highest independence I believed in and how I wanted my skin to feel different. Just as author Judith Ortiz Cofer mentioned in "The Story of My Body," I too "wanted to be wanted." I wanted to become someone that other people liked and approached.

# data[].attributes.body
Other people's opinion is what I care for. I am independent and living my best life. I am a girl who is finding myself. I am only looking for my next night out. I only look for fun. I would get inside random men's cars with my friends. We would go around town all night and stay out. I wanted to be the center of attention. I was in the back of my car trying to understand how my life could be so great. It did not last long. I did not find myself. I was lost. I was falling behind. Who was I really? My hormones can only tell.

# data[].attributes.body
In my eyes, he is perfect. He who must not be named is who I wanted. I never wanted anything but the opportunity to feel love. With love comes sex. With sex comes more love. I believe in both. "Discovering sex was like discovering writing," and what I feel for him can be written in a long novel that portrays the meaning of love (Cisneros 176). My boyfriend is who I feel love with. He let me feel a great love that has changed me. I cannot be a girl, without my boy.

# data[].attributes.body
My birth control ring is what saves me. It saves me from stress, financially hardship, and from my life to be ruined. Thinking of what this ring can cause me to do is difficult. Having access to it is much more easier than I would have ever thought. I want to continue with my journey by having my hormones controlled by my ring. At the end of the day, I will decide what I want to do with the body I was born with. I am just a girl.