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It was everyone else being silly, NOT ME.

Reflecting on the experience of a field trip to the river, Maia notes how absurd it is that so many adults are insistent Maia keep eir shirt on even as all the boys are allowed to play shirtless in the water. This early memory represents one of Maia’s first encounters with gender protocols, strictly enforced but for seemingly no good reason. The quote’s capitalized text underscores an observation that will be central to the memoir as a whole: while Maia is just being emself, others are caught in the irrational grip of policing gender for reasons they themselves don’t understand.

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