Read the latest blog from Ann Summers
How I Learned to Stand Up for Love with Talulah
I did love myself, innocently. As a child you just love everything, anything that makes you happy. It
really is that simple. But that mindset quickly fades as you awaken to the reality of life and the box
that the world puts you in. What makes you happy suddenly becomes about keeping other people happy.
Meeting the expectations of those around you. Fitting the mould in the best way that you can.
We always knew what love was right from the moment we were born. It’s what we’re drawn to, it’s the
energy that pulls us and the smiles that are wrapped around our faces. But then love becomes about
labels, it becomes about marriage. It becomes about all the expectations that are put on love and on us.
What made me happy was simple. Just being me. Femininity came naturally to me. I didn’t see the
difference between me and other girls until society, school and family told me and explained the labels
of what we all were, and what those labels meant.
It meant that I would grow up conforming to boyhood, even though that wasn’t me. I had to suddenly grow
a façade and present myself to the world in a way that I didn’t know how to or didn’t come naturally to
me.
My authentic self was frowned upon. It wasn’t accepted because it didn’t come in the form of what
biologically made a girl. At such a young age, that’s when I truly felt heartbreak. I fell out of love
with me and forced myself to fit in.