The girl with the long hair was angry and determined. She was sick and tired of her parents refusing to listen to her. Well, today they would have to listen, she would make them listen. This time she wasn't going to back down.
''I want to cut my hair short!'' she told them, trying to be calm and assertive instead of angry and aggressive, but totally failing
''Do not talk to us in that tone of voice young lady'' her father Quentin yelled at her furiously ''you must remember to show us respect my girl!''
''Well you never show me any respect so why should I show you any'' the petulant girl demanded
''now then'' Quentin continued ''aside from your terrible attitude we've told you so many times that you cannot cut your hair short. You look so pretty with long hair, just like your sister Anne. I just wish you behaved more like her too, all this tomboy nonsense just won't do. I have two sons and two daughters but anyone would think I had three sons and one daughter the way you carry on. It must stop right now, from now on you will be more like your sister Georgina!''
''I will not be anything like her, I hate her and you know it. And how dare you call me Georgina, my name is George I told you this enough times and you never listen''
''If you talk to me like this again you'll feel the leather of my belt girl, now get out of my sight and go to your room!''
George stormed out of the room, almost in tears but holding it back and refusing to cry in front of anyone. She knew that boys like her brothers Julian and Dick would never cry. It was only weakling girls like her wretched sister Anne who cried. George, or Georgina as her parents insisted on calling her, was 14. Her brother Julian was one year older than she was at 15 and her brother dick was one year younger at 13. Her baby sister Anne was a few years younger than Dick at age 11. George hated being a girl and hated her long hair. She wanted to be a boy, damn it, she was going to have a sex change one day and be a man! She didn't care what anyone said, one day she would do it and if her parents and others didn't like it then they could go to hell. She was going to have her hair cut short too. She didn't care if they denied her permission, she was 14, not 4. She could do what she wanted to do, who are they or anyone else to tell her what she can and can't do? She hated her revolting long hair, just like her sister's revolting hair. She wanted short hair and she wanted to be a boy like her brothers, not a silly girl. She had nothing against girls but she just didn't want to be one. Leave the girly stuff to Anne, she was so good at it.
The following day after school George marched into a barbershop in her school uniform, head held high and totally cocky and unafraid. The barber and the other male customers looked at her as she came in
''I'm here to get a haircut'' she said ''I want my hair cut very short in a boy's style!''
''Well I'm sorry girl but this is a barbershop'' the barber told her, rolling his eyes with annoyance as he said it'' you can't get a haircut here, we only cut the hair for men and boys here''
''Listen I want a proper male haircut don't I and I'll only get that at a barbershop'' She explained ''if I go to unisex or female hairdressers they will do some silly girly haircut or something in between. I don't want that, I want a complete 100% boys haircut. Please I beg you, I want a boy's haircut because I want to be a boy and I am going to be a boy I hate being a girl. Please help me and give me a boy's haircut, don't send me away please'' George then took her money from her bag to show the barber ''And my money is as good as anyone else's. You run a business to make money and I am one of your customers it really is as simple as that''
Everyone in the barber's shop looked at George in stunned surprise but no one laughed or mocked her. They could see how angry and determined she was. If it had been a boy saying he wanted to be a girl he would have been bullied horribly but a girl wanting to be a boy was not judged as harshly
''I can see you are determined to have a haircut here'' the barber told her ''but there is a queue so you'll have to wait your turn''
''Of course, I understand that'' George said with a smile and sat down to wait her turn. She left the barbers with a very short boy's haircut.
When she arrived home, later that evening, her father Quentin and mother Fanny were horrified by the haircut.''Oh my god what on earth have you done?'' her mother said in horror ''it looks awful. you look like a boy now''
''It's exactly what I want'' George told them with delight ''I want nice short hair like a boy and I will be a boy''
''I wish you were more like your sister I really do'' her father said, shaking his head with despair ''You tell me, Georgina, just what are we going to do with you?''
''From now on when you call me Georgina I will simply ignore you and I will refuse to answer you unless you call me George. My name is George now and I am a boy now''
''Look stop this nonsense at once'' Fanny said angrily
''I tell you I am serious. In a few more years when I am old enough, I will officially have my gender changed and I will be a male and I will have testosterone injections and live as a man and that's it. I don't care if you like it or not it's what I want and I'm going to do it and that's final''
George's mother started to cry and Quentin took her into his arms and tried to comfort her
''Oh, what will we do about this horrible situation?'' She asked him
''We will just ignore it because in time Georgina will come to her senses and get over it'' Quenton said, very sure of himself ''This is just a silly phase she is going through and it will pass and there is no need to get worked up about it my love''
''Erm not it isn't'' George said angrily '' I am serious and I will never change my mind about this. It's not a silly phase it's real and permanent and the sooner you accept it the better it will be for all of us''
''But it's so weird'' her mother said while shaking her head with dismay ''can't you see it's very strange and unnatural? You were born a girl, you should stay a girl. How can you even want to be a boy? I have never wanted to be a man and I'm sure your father never wanted to be a woman. And just look at your sister Anne, she loves being a girl. She plays with her dolls, loves doing her hair and she loves being a girl''
George pulled a face of disgust ''I was never like Anne and you damn well know it'' She told her parents firmly. ''I always preferred doing boy things, being more like my brothers. I simply hate being a girl and Anne is revolting with her stupid dolls and her wretched pigtails. I hate her and I hate being a girl!''
''You must never talk about your sister like that'' Quentin told her ''You must never say you hate her''
''Well I do, I try not to but she disgusts me. She is so girly and I hate it''
''We'll have to punish you for getting a haircut when we told you not to get one''
''Why should I be punished for deciding for myself what to do with my own damn hair! You're ridiculous!''
''Get to your room and stay there until tomorrow'' her father said ''Tonight we're all angry and maybe we need to talk again'' when we've all calmed down''
George stormed out of the room and almost slammed the door but she knew that this would only make things worse so she resisted the urge to do it.
Quentin and Fanny were left alone.
Fanny was still very upset and Quentin tried hard to comfort her.
''What are we going to do?'' Fanny said at last ''All this stuff about wanting to be a boy, she's been saying it for a long time now. I thought it was just a fantasy and she doesn't really mean it but now she's cut her hair short and she seems so determined about it''
''She can't possibly mean it'' Quentin said ''Let's not worry about it so much. Ok she cut her hair but it will grow back again in time''
''She's never been anything like Anne or other girls., always been like her brothers for as long as I can remember. Let's face it maybe she really does want to be a boy. Look at how angry she gets every time we call her Georgina, that can't be normal can it?''
''Ok so we'll take her to see a psychiatrist then, maybe she is just very disturbed and needs help. She has never been a normal child anyway, always a very difficult and rebellious child. It's about time she was given some treatment to cure her of this odd behavior''
Fanny looked at her husband and wanted to argue with him. She didn't want to send any of her children to a psychiatrist but maybe Quentin was right this time., maybe they really had to get Georgina some professional help.''Yes maybe its the only way'' she said at last
''Trust me it is'' Quentin replied ''we have to nip this in the bud before it gets worse...and it will get worse if we ignore it and don't get her the necessary treatment as soon as possible