Like a girl

I’ve never really fit the stereotypical definition of a girl. I’ve had a long-running aversion to all things pink, I give the way I look very little thought, and my fingernails are more often colored by dirt than polish.

But it’s taken me a while to be comfortable in my own skin. I have often felt different and like I didn’t fit. Even at my all girls high school I was the outlier. The one who would wear pants and a basketball sweatshirt every day. The one who didn’t own a single thing of makeup and rolled her eyes whenever someone complained about the things she ate. I had no clue how to curl my eye lashes or roll my skirt.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized I really liked being me. I didn’t care that I didn’t look like the other girls in my class (or the boys either). I had a distinct point of view and I saw value in that. I finally felt confident being me.

I’m sick of all of the pressures put on women and girls to look and act a certain way. Don’t you dare tell me something I do isn’t “lady-like.” Why do we try to pigeon hole people into looking or behaving in a certain way? Why do we demonize and put down girls?

You can be a girl and be powerful. You can be a girl and speak up. You can be a girl and a leader.

It’s time that being a girl doesn’t matter, that it isn’t something used to put someone down or tell her she isn’t good enough. Women do amazing things. They go to space, fight for people’s rights, and change the world completely unseen. Let’s start seeing.