HISTORY

DE UNA HERMANA MEXICANA

or

THE LIFE OF A MEXICAN SISTER

by Ana Bertha

My story begins like that of many other TV's. I was born in the north of my country, the second in a family of seven children: two girls and five boys. Although I did not go to kindergarten, I did learn to read when I was six. Many times I have looked back on my childhood, looking for the origin of my compulsion, but I do not comprehend why I liked the clothes of women. As a child I was never dressed as a girl.

My grandfather had a barbershop where I passed many pleasant hours reading the many magazines I found there. I clearly remember one early article I read, about actors in an English theater playing the parts of women. Did this influence my mind toward being a TV? I also remember a story about a man named John who was transformed into a woman named Jenny. I do remember always looking for stories such as these.

Nor did I have stern parents. My mother was sometimes impatient with me, but certainly no more so than most other mothers. Nor was I particularly concerned with the differences between boys and girls. . . it simply did not interest me as a child.

However, by the time I became eleven I had learned quite a few things about the differences. In elementary school I had always attained first place for my diligence, but when I entered high school I noted that I could not study. In fact, one of my teachers

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