Too Uncool for High School Roundtable Megapost

Here in the States, it’s that time of year when the children are released from their educational institutions and unleashed upon the world.

So we got to thinking about high school … See, here in the Stateland of Autostraddle, our brains are somewhat fried. It’s days like this we wish we had a tumblr — you know, where we could just post pictures and quotes and things? And as this particular post has evolved, and as we’ve looked at it and thought “Hm, this is just a wee bit totally self-indulgent,” we have made it, in its own way, into a mini-tumblr with a theme. And the theme is … High School!

What’s interesting to me is how quickly things have changed when it comes to what we saw and what we thought we could be and who we could love. Per ushe, we’re not a representative sample by any means. Enough talking … let’s go!

“I’m 28 years old, I don’t even like to look at photo albums from high school, it’s so unfortunate, like I should have been on an island from the ages of 11-21.”

-Sara Quin, Tegan & Sara

“The embrace of weirdness is actually a pretty good predictor of which women are going to find lesbianism an easy fit. The two of us like to say that we were queer years before we were gay. To be a lesbian is, by definition, to flout social conventions. Bookworm? Tomboy? Rule-Breaker? Felt like a changeling in your family? Women who answer yes to any of the above may feel instantly comfortable with the outsider status that more readily comes with that lesbian territory.”

-Van Gelder & Brandt, The Girls Next Door

“I’m a homosexual! I’m a homosexual! I’m a homosexual! Oh my god… they were right. I’m a homo!“

-Megan, But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)

“FUCK MY FACE I’m so glad it’s over. Thank g*d the reunions aren’t mandatory.“

-Autostraddle Associate Editor Laneia

Sebastian: I read your manifesto.
Annette: You did?
Sebastian: Yes. I must say, I found it rather… appalling.
Annette: That’s a first. Most people praise me for it.
Sebastian: Most people are sheep. Who are you to criticize something you’ve never experienced?
Annette: I wasn’t criticizing. I just think people shouldn’t experience the act of love until they are in love and I just don’t think people our age are mature enough to experience those kinds of emotions.
Sebastian: Are you a lesbian?
Annette: No…
Sebastian: I didn’t mean to offend you. I just picked up on a little bit of that lesbian vibe.
–Cruel Intentions

“There was a video store in town we could walk to from our boarding school and my best friend and I rented Gia and kept it for like five months — possibly we never returned it? Worth it.“

-Autostraddle CEO of Ideas Riese

“I’ve never paid as close attention to my life or anyone elses’s as I did then. How was I able to pay such attention? I remembered myself as often unhappy at Ault [boarding school], and yet my unhappiness was so alert and expectant; really, it was, in its energy, not that different from happiness.“

-Curtis Sittinfeld, Prep

Lana: I hate my life.
Brandon: I hate your life too.

–Boys Don’t Cry, 1999

“I hated most of high school. Christian boarding school my senior year was a step up.“

-Autostraddle Photoblogger Robin