I am not a stereotypical woman, and that’s okay.
In fact, I don’t think anyone is a stereotypical woman, and that is, to me, one of the greatest things about human kind. We are all different, even though some of us may subscribe to some “typical” behaviors that our brains tell us “normal” women do.
But is there such a thing as a normal woman? No.
Some women have long hair. Some don’t.
Some women wear makeup. Some don’t.
Some women wear dresses. Some don’t.
Some women have vaginas. Some don’t.
Some women have menstrual cycles. Some don’t.
Some women have children. Some don’t.
Some women have light, whimsical voices. Some (like myself) don’t.
Some women have breasts. Some don’t.
And all this? That’s perfectly okay.
When I was younger, I was paranoid about not seeming like a girl. Because, in my mind, seeming like a boy when I identified as a girl was terrible. My world was black and white, boy and girl. But, to make myself more feminine, I slapped golden-brown eyeshadow on my lids, drew unnecessarily dark brows in, and tried to find the tightest clothing I could possibly wear. I grew my hair out long, and straightened it nearly everyday to hide the mass of curls I woke up with.
I looked like, in my mind, what a typical teenage girl looked like. And I hated it.
I wasn’t myself.
It took years, therapy, several lost friendships, and many nights lying awake to realize that there isn’t a typical teenage girl, and I’m certainly not it. I will never be it.
And that’s okay.
Still, today, people everywhere are trying so hard to figure out who they are and what they like. But society keeps trying to shove them into these standards, these stereotypes, just because the idea of anything against the norm is terrifying and wrong.
That’s not right at all.
You should be whoever you are. That’s the best thing you can possibly do for yourself, and possibly the world.
Be you, and the rest of you will follow. I promise.