katherine

sitting here as a just turned 23 year old, i can't help but think of not just 18 year old me, who cried watching nick figure out his sexuality, but 14 year old me, too, who sat in her room at 1am watching “how i knew i was bisexual” youtube videos just like he did. she deserves something as hopeful as this.

(would 14 year old me also be shocked to know that i’ve been to one of the gay bars in leeds right near where nick and charlie go in the epilogue? probably lol)

after spending the last few weeks rereading all the books and rewatching the whole show, i know that heartstopper to me will always be about growing up and learning more about who you are and surrounding yourself with people you can truly be yourself around. it’s about looking back and seeing how far you’ve come.

nobody is forcing you to stop shaving, they’re just asking you to think critically about why you started. why do you only feel beautiful and confident and hygienic without body hair (the same body hair that men just get to exist with)? you have been conditioned since birth to believe that a woman’s natural body is wrong, and it is ok to recognise that, even if it makes you a bit uncomfortable. it should make you uncomfortable. but it’s not the “crazy angry feminists” trying to make you feel like a bad person, they’re simply asking you to realise that your choices are deeply influenced by the world we live in.