Nicole StanleyMs. Gardner4th Period Honors English19 January 2015Do Your Hips Lie?The leg bones connected to the hip bone, the hip bones connected to the back bone... I sat on the uncomfortable rug with at least thirty other four year olds around me and listened to the never-ending bone song. At that point in my life I was just trying to get to nap time, but these words caught my attention, probably because my hips didnt work right like the song said they should.From walking to running, standing to sitting, dancing to My Hips Dont Lie to exercising, our hips hardly get the credit they deserve. When a person is walking I guarantee you they arent thinking about what must happen to let them walk, or how it would affect them if those contributors decided to stop working. The hips allow people to explore the world through single footsteps, how else does one walk the Great Wall of China? Or set out for a simple hike around Helen Putnam? Without your hips, you would be paralyzed, literally and figuratively.I can only imagine my moms face when the doctor told her that her one-year-old daughter had hip dysplasia, How could we have missed this until now? my mom was worried, like any mother would have been, although to answer her question, it wasnt that she had missed it, but the pediatrician who checked me for the problem after I was born had, allowing one-year-old me to limp around the house instead of learning to walk like a normal child. The solution to such a problem? Hip surgery, then a full body cast, then a full leg cast, and finally re-teaching myself to walk again; all of this and I couldnt even talk yet. When I was older I remember my mom explaining the surgery to me when I asked about the three scars on my left thigh, especially the four inch long, completely numb one that stood out the most. She explained that the doctors broke a leg bone called a femur, and then placed plates and screws into my bone. I remember my four-year-old mind picturing glass dinner plates stuck to my bones. I saw pictures of my purple body cast that extended from my torso, down to my ankles, and my mom told me stories of how she would carry me upside down by the bar in-between my legs when I got in trouble. Now of course I have come to realize this was a joke, or at least I hope it was.The only time hips are noticed is when they create womens curves, which apparently the men of the world think were made for them. Have you ever heard a girl say, Wow that guy has such nice hips and curves! I didnt think so. Guys view girls as sexual beings already, and if one so happens to have a curvy body and nice hips, it is the cherry on top. Women are mentioned for their bodies constantly in todays pop culture as Shakira herself told the world that her hips dont lie. Whether the song got popular for the lyrics or Shakiras actual hips, who knows. Last year, Luke Brian told all his country girls to shake it for the birds, shake it for the bees shake it for the catfish swimmin down deep in the creek. Being a girl myself, I like to recognize my hips for allowing me walk, not for allowing me to shake it.Eighth grade and I am running the mile around Kenilworth, our usual fourth period P.E routine. My hips are sore and aching as usual, but twelve years after my surgery, Ive gotten used to it. Although, on that crisp spring morning something felt different. My hip popped as I jogged along, I could feel its motions; in, out, in out. Mr. Russo, I say, Can I be done running? My hips are killing me. Not without a doctors note you cant. He answered. So I continued on. If I listened close enough I could hear the popping reverberation with every stride I took with my left leg. I went back to the doctor for X-rays and an MRI, then waited for what seemed like an eternity for the news: cartilage growths on the bone and inside my joint, an egg-shaped socket, and a torn tendon, whoop-dee-doo. The day came for my second surgery two months before freshman year. The procedure was quick, six AM check in two PM check out; I had my wheelchair and crutches for a couple weeks and was back on my feet in no time. The only consequence was no more sports, not that I was good at softball anyways; you win something you lose something I always say.According to Familydoctor.org, Your hips and pelvic area may begin to ache as pregnancy hormones relax the ligaments (tough, ropelike bands of tissue) that hold bones together. The bones will begin moving in preparation for childbirth. The idea of pregnancy in general is overwhelming; yet truly amazing as one considers the tasks your body completes in order to deliver a baby alive and well and keep women healthy while doing it. The hips play a huge part in this transformation, as they must widen to allow for the baby to travel smoothly through the birth canal and out into the world. Without the hips you might not be reading this essay, you may have not been born, all because the hips werent theyre to make room for your arrival.The five scars all over my left leg are a constant reminder of my problems. The biggest one is from my first surgery; four inches long, a quarter of an inch thick, and numb at the surface of the skin. I also have one on my inner thigh and one right on top of my hip bone that are much more skinny and less noticeable. Two large dot-shaped scars sit on my upper left pelvis from my more recent surgery; these also are just as numb as the first. During summer when everyone is wearing their bathing suits people stare and sometimes even ask where they came from. I am not self-conscious about my scars; I embrace them and personally believe they provide me with a little bit more character.My hips and I may not have gotten along in the past and even to this day they still cause me trouble and pain, although it is no secret that I am thankful for them. I can explore and travel to my lifes content, and can thank them for my life, and for my future childrens lives. After two surgeries, five scars, and the continuous popping of my hip, I can now say that no, my hips dont lie.