Brianna da Silva

Category: Personal stories

Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
June 8, 2018 0

Reclaiming the temple: Chapter 3

This is Chapter 3 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith. Read Chapters 1 & 2 first.

I first noticed boys when I started high school.

For me, as a home schooler, “starting high school” meant going to a new co-op (much like a mini private school), where I took classes with other home school students.

I was a hopelessly awkward, unstylish, bumbling adolescent that freshman year, hiding behind mismatched layers and baggy flaring jeans that guarded my figure like an embarrassing secret. My long, curly hair was an unruly tyrant, and a constant source of insecurity.

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Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
February 3, 2018 2

Reclaiming the temple: Chapter 2

This is Chapter 2 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith. Read Chapter 1 first.

Sex ed is rather straightforward when you’re home schooled.

As the oldest of six kids, I was the first to experience the “Passport to Purity” tradition. (As my mom always joked, I was the “guinea pig” of the family.) When I turned eleven, my mom took me on a special weekend getaway, just the two of us. We watched The Polar Express in the theaters, awestruck by the lifelike visuals. We stayed in our own hotel room.

And we spent long car rides listening to some very intriguing tapes about puberty and… human reproduction.

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Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
January 27, 2018 0

Reclaiming the temple: Chapter 1

This is Chapter 1 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith.

Since I was a young girl, I always felt something about me was different.

It wasn’t the fact that my personality, interests, and play style were unique among the girls I knew. Luckily, for the first decade of my life I had almost no exposure to the concept of gender roles. I never thought twice about my passion for digging in the dirt in search of worms, my unending itch for adventure, or my fascination with science and history.

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Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
December 8, 2017 2

Why I will always live dangerously

This is an open letter to friends and family and anyone else who has ever worried for my safety.

“Be safe!” is a send-off you sometimes give me before I embark on my next activist action, jump out of an airplane, travel somewhere dangerous, or do some other daring endeavor.

All I can do is shoot back a feral grin and say, “Sorry, I make no such promises.”

If you’re not the wild adventurer type, this mindset may be hard to understand. So, let me get vulnerable for a moment and share a bit of my soul.

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