It was different for me. The first reason was that I didn't want to be a girl. And that was because my father didn't want me to be a girl. As a kid I tried to hide my feminine side and be around boys as much as possible. I dreaded wearing skirts and dresses and dreaded my long hair, but it was the compromise - the only one at it - I made for my mom.
Secondly, I started developing early. And that just made my father angry - he always said that the fact that I was a girl was a guarantee that I was to become a wh**e. And then there were the boys that kept teasing me and grabbing me. One day, during summer, they poured a bucket of water on me to make my t-shirt stick to my body and teased me a lot about it. I wasn't wearing a bra because my mom told me it was bad for my breasts, so I had to go through about an hour of embarassing stares and comments. That made me click and I started binding my breasts and wearing really baggy clothes so that nothing would show. I stopped because I got really strong pains.
The part about over eating is a current problem of mine. I have gained enough weight lately and I say I don't care, but in fact I do, because I like to look pretty. But it just frustrates the hell out of me if I get comments or stares - I won't mention what being grabbed does to me.. :)
It's all about taking control of things in our heads, I guess. Too bad that we don't realize what that "control" does to us..
Thank YOU for sharing. It really was enlightening to read.