Great story, Matthew! I had somewhat similar experiences about a decade after you. The details were different. I didn't live anywhere near the sea or anyplace warm enough for mango trees to thrive. But my parents keyed into some of my GNC behavior quite early on, and by the time I was 10 in 1972, I already felt like I was in the center of their "make him grow into a real man" bullseye.

What I learned was to keep my mouth shut and not share my true inner thoughts with just about anyone.

I struggled for a long time with that, as I imagine you probably did.

Things are slowly getting better, but parents like yours and mine who tried to enforce strict gender conformity are by no means rare today.

Thanks for highlighting this important issue with your story!