To be honest, I love being a girl 85 percent of the time. 85 percent of the time, it is empowering to be a woman of the 21st century. However, while being a camp counselor for high school girls this summer, I continually saw tears and heard girls cry about the inhumane treatment they are subjected to daily by other girls. I saw girls crying due to comparing themselves to others. I saw frustration, brought by simple acts we women do that may not seem that bad, but are forcing our fellow ladies to struggle. I have struggled, and many others as well, due to some simple mistakes we women unconsciously commit daily.

1. Girls, can we please stop being mean to other girls?

I struggle with gossip, and every time I gossip, I regret it once I think about how the other person must feel. Why are we continually being mean to other girls when we know how hard it is to be a girl in this world? Think before you gossip, or judge another girl. Love like God has loved you. Love with grace and compassion, and not with the eyes. Respect, love, and admire every female you see, because behind every girl is a woman facing difficulties, insecurity, and hardships; and the last thing she needs is another female putting her down and making it worse.

2. Girls, can we please stop editing our photos?

We used to only have to deal with models being photoshopped to have their waist minimized, face airbrushed, and teeth perfectly whitened; but now, it is possible to hold this power ourselves and do it to our own profile pictures or insta posts with the use of an app. However, we must remember if we edit our photos to that extreme, we are not promoting natural beauty in other girls as well.

3. Girls, can we please stop pretending our lives are perfect on social media?

I am by no means saying you need to start posting your bad moments and hardships on social media; I am just reminding us to not fluff up our life behind the screen and make it out to be perfect. Stop using social media to brag and start using it to keep family and friends updated on your life.

4. Girls, can we please hold higher standards for men?

We often find ourselves complaining about how dating isn’t how it used to be, and there are a lot less gentlemen out there. Maybe if we all hold up higher standards for our men, and not settle for less than we deserve, we would find that men naturally rise up to the standard we set.

As women, we need to do our best to be kind to one another and help our sisters out in this crazy world we live in. This world is against us, but if we stick together and try to help each other out, it can and will be a more secure and joyful place for us all. I pray and hope that when I have a daughter, she lives in a society where she feels accepted, unique, secure in her beauty, and loves being a woman 100 percent of the time.