Deal with It!: A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a Gurl

Deal With It! offers a whole new approach for dealing with your life as a girl. It's a resource to help you learn about, laugh about, and figure out the stuff you go through on your way through life. It won't tell you what to do, because you'll need to decide that for yourself. But whether you're wondering about your body, your feelings or your changing relationships with the people around you, this book provides accurate information and outlines your options. Hilarious illustrations point out the humor in even the sorriest situations. And with hundreds of excerpts from real-girl conversations on the gURL.com website, you can see for real that whatever you're going through, you're not alone.

This book is for anyone who needs to know what it means to be a girl — from those on the edge of their teens to those who are way past them but still reeling from the trauma.

"Straight information, lots of humor, and a beautiful layout characterize this fine addition to the self-knowledge/self-help genre." Booklist

"[F]rank, tolerant....Young readers, liberal parents and educators will welcome the authors' openness and lack of boosterism." Publishers Weekly

"[S]umptuously colorful and solid puberty....Highly recommended." Publishers Weekly

"As frank as Madeleine Albright's assessment of Saddam Hussein and as saucy as women's room graffiti in a college dorm." The New Yorker

"Deal With It — where have you been all my life? This gift-of-a-book helps girls deal with a huge range of issues, in a smart, honest, informative, colorful, comforting and loving way." Francesca Lia Block, author of The Weetzie Bat books and Girl Goddess #9

"I wish this book could have been found in a bookstore as I was struggling to come to terms with approaching adulthood. A great manual to consult whenever you need confirmation that you're not half as weird and scary as your friends and family think you are." Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage

The creators of the award-winning, phenomenally popular interactive website, gURL.com, present a hip, no-nonsense resource book for girls.

gURL.com, launched in 1996, is the leading website for teenage girls. It has been featured in Seventeen, YM, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker and the New York Times, among other publications.

The founders received the New York Magazine Award in 1997 for their work on gURL.com. The gURL website received a 1998 webby Award.

CONTENTS

Introduction

BODY

Chapter 1: Boobs

Growing Them

Shapes and Sizes

Changing What You've Got

Breast Concerns

Bras

Resources

Chapter 2: Whats Up Down There?

External Reproductive Organs

Internal Reproductive Organs

Ovulation, Menstruation, and the Monthly Cycle

Common Crotch Concerns

What to Expect from a Visit to the Gynecologist Resources

Chapter 3: Skin

Some common skin Conditions

Zit Remedies

Stretch Marks

Sun Protection

B.O.

Resources

Chapter 4: Hair

Body Hair

Hairy Strategies

Hair Removal Techniques

Chapter 5: Body Image

Body Image Issues

Beauty image

The Body As Expression

Resources

Special Section: Taking Care of Yourself

Nutrition Basics

Exercise

Dealing with Stress

Resources

SEXUALITY

Chapter 1: Sexual Feelings

Vague Feelings of Attraction

Masturbation

Sexual Arousal — What's Going On

Orgasm

Resources

Chapter 2: What is Sex?

Sex is Communication

Communicating with Body Parts

Sex is Play

Attitudes Toward Sex

Resources

Chapter 3: To Do It or Not to Do It

To Lose It or Not to Lose It

The First Time

Resources

Chapter 4: Protection

Condoms

What is Safer Sex?

Understanding STDs

Birth Control

Resources

Chapter 5: Getting Pregnant

How You Get Pregnant

Deciding What to Do

Options

Resources

Chapter 6: Sexual Preference

Sexual Preference Is a Continuum

Why Do Girls Like Girls?

Defining Yourself

Homophobia

Coming Out

Resources

Chapter 7: Sex When You Don't Want It

Sexual Harassment

Rape

Incest

Molestation

Resources

Special Section: Boys A Primer

Anatomy and Physiology

What Happens to Boys During Sex?

Male Masturbation

Emotional Responses and Issues

Resources

BRAIN

Chapter 1: Psychology

Those Sucky Emotions

Mood Swings

Surviving the Insanity

Resources

Chapter 2: Self-Destructive Behavior

Underachieving

Eating Disorders

Risky Behavior

Self-Mutilation

Teenage Suicide

Resources

Special Section: Altered States

What is a Drug?

Why People Take Drugs

Addiction

Common Drags

Up

Out

Down

Resources

LIFE

Chapter 1: Family

What is Family?

Parents

Sisters and Brothers

Dealing with Family Conflicts

Resources

Chapter 2: Friends

Making and Finding Friends

Best Friends

Complications and Conflict

Growing Apart

Chapter 3: Romance

Being Single

Attraction

Relationships

Resources

Chapter 4: School

Types of Schools

Transitions

Academics

The Social Landscape at School

After High School

Resources

Chapter 5: Beliefs

Religion

Spirituality

Politics

Resources

Chapter 6: Being Yourself

Expressing Yourself

Standing Out

Fitting in

Resources

Special Section: Money

Earning It

Saving It

Spending It

Resources

Index