Book #1 Post 1

I chose to read Brittney Griner’s In My Skin, a story about a WNBA star on Phoenix Mercury whose sexuality was unwillingly publically announced in 2013. The book follows her life in chronological order, first talking about her experiences as a child, in college basketball, and then lastly the WNBA. 


Growing up, she stated that she had trouble fitting in with other kids at school due to her tall stature and appearance. Because of this, she was forced to hide parts of her identity and felt a loss of freedom in her everyday life. For me, this really resonated with me especially when I was younger. I went to the same school my whole life and the school was not very racially diverse. I sometimes felt like an outsider and often feared that people would not accept me due to how physically different I looked from everyone else. I admire her strength to keep on fighting for her identity despite all the slurs and bullying she endured. In high school, she did start to take steps to finally show her identity, such as finding her own clothing style.


She states that her father never really accepted her coming out and that even now, her and her father’s relationship is very superficial. In fact, he was quite violent when he found out. I know that I have had a couple of challenges with my own parents growing up because we disagreed on certain things. I can’t imagine the feeling of being trapped with your own parents not accepting you for who you are due to different viewpoints. I was inspired by the way she handled and navigated the situation, trying to just keep the peace between them. At this time, she stated that she leaned a lot on her coaches and friends for support. After a physical altercation with a player during a game, as “punishment,” her coach forced her to start going to therapy. At this thought, she initially rolled her eyes at this subjection, but after attending a couple of sessions with her therapist, she stated that her therapist brought her “peace of mind.” I think a lot of older generations have believed that mental health is some kind of myth and have developed preconceived notions that therapy is useless. She broke this myth and even encouraged her teammates to take therapy seriously. 


In the end, I found her story encouraging---to always stand up and fight for what you believe in. She shared a lot of her challenges and was very open about her mistakes. After reading, I watched a couple of her interviews and the way she writes is exactly the same tone and style that she speaks.

  

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