I'm a Girl?

Over the past couple of years, I've begun to appreciate the fact that I'm a girl. 

I know that probably sounds silly, but up until well into my first year at Teen Mania, I didn't like being a girl. 

I shirked all things girly. 

I wouldn't use a purse; I wouldn't wear dresses.

I would purposely un-identify with girls.

I did/believed this because the major example of what a woman is supposed to be in my life failed.

Instead of seeing a priceless gift, I saw a treasure better suited for the junk yard.

(Disclaimer, I believe ever human is incredibly valuable and deserves to be treated as such, without condition.) 

I saw women as flighty, fickle, manipulative, liars, gossips, incredibly selfish, skanky, unrealistic...

And while there is a bit of truth to a few of these (come on, we're human, we're all a bit fickle, flighty, unrealistic, incredibly selfish),  they certainly should not be applied across the board. 

While at Teen Mania (no, this is not a plug for them, though I do appreciate who I became while I was there), 

I was exposed to all types of women, lots of them, and I was required to room with them - five to be exact.

And you know what the funny thing was?

None of them seemed to resemble the woman I based my view of women on.

Not one.

Sure, they had their flaws, but overall, these women were stunning, and they were revered as such.

They brought life to the world around them.

They enjoyed being who they were.

They were confident.

By the time my first year was halfway over, I started to come to terms with myself and found that it might actually be okay to like this girly stuff, to act like a girl, and to be confident in doing so.

I started to like wearing dresses and to love spending time with the women in my life.

And I learned that feeling things wasn't bad, that wanting things girls want was okay; it didn't make me absurd, stupid, or worthless. It made me a girl.

I wouldn't trade it for the world.