“I was not - even the notion of "could not" seems to suggest a moment of recognition, but it was such a repressed dimension - I was not able to NOT wear a shirt like my brothers could. My brothers would, in the heat, run around shirtless, and I wouldn't do that, obviously.” MomentsSeemsRunningAbleBrotherNotionRecognitionShirtsHeatMy BrotherDimensionsRepressed Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“As a female in a home with a whole bunch of brothers and being very close to my father, without a mother and later having a hostile relationship with my stepmother, there were all kinds of Freudian issues rising from possessing a female body that I had to negotiate with no guidance, and I did this negotiation almost instinctually.” KindWholeHomeBodyMotherFatherIssuesBrotherFemaleBunchAll KindsGuidanceRisingNegotiationHostilePossessingFemale BodyStepmothers Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“I did not write about that kind of insecurity and anxiety between myself and my brothers, because my father was the dominant male figure as I was growing up in that home.” WritingKindHomeFatherGrowing UpGrowingFiguresBrotherAnxietyMalesMy BrotherInsecurityDominant Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“My brothers were my peers, but they were not the preeminent male figures in my emotional life.” FiguresEmotionalBrotherMalesMy BrotherPeersEmotional Life Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“I also wanted to be like my brothers, physically, and yet not physically. So I would constantly - and I think nowadays it's taken for granted that this is what girlfriends do - I would constantly wear their shorts, put on their shirts. That did not seem odd because we were desperately poor for quite a while. It wasn't as if pretty little girlie things were available to me.” IfsThinkingLittlesSeemsWantedPoorTakenBrotherAvailableGrantedOddShirtsGirlfriendMy BrotherShortsTaken For Granted Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“With so many brothers, I could always find a pair of shorts to borrow and run around in.” RunningBrotherPairsShorts Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“When I was younger, yes, there was a part of me - and I wrote about that bit in Among the White Moon Faces - that wanted to be a boy. I wanted to be accepted by my brothers and to be their peers.” WantedFacesBitsWhiteBoysBrotherMoonAcceptedMy BrotherPeers Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
