Ballet did continue to treat me well! I went all the way to the top levels of Mrs. Treon's classes until it finally had to give way to high school marching band. The young women I met in that class remain some of my favorite hometown people. Though a lot of them were better dancers than I, all I ever felt from them was positivity and support.

I've certainly learned a lot about myself and the world since those days. I used to think of myself as an aberration because I didn't fit the female stereotypes within our culture. My internal perspective of myself was always sort of gender neutral. Try convincing people of that, however, when you have curves!

But yes, I acknowledge that I am privileged as an educated white middle-class woman, married to a man. I'm always striving, however, to learn from others and support equality across all groups.