We've all heard of gender roles, and we all know that they can be really negative. If it's expected of your gender to always be polite and never yell or be assertive, it's understandably frustrating. It's natural to be angry or upset! However, it seems like whenever a women is any of these things, it's a bad thing. Donald Trump called Megyn Kelly a "bimbo" for calling him out on his other sexist comments toward women. When we see celebrities or public figures who are women stand up for themselves or do anything other than smile and pose for pictures, we also see the backlash that comes with their assertiveness.

Sorry, not sorry!

Obviously, if you're not all too happy with how you match up with the "ideal" you, you'll do a lot of apologizing. Don't be sorry for your hairstyle, for how many pictures you take of yourself, or if you don't look "as good" as you did yesterday. Don't be sorry for who you are or what you want. You do not need to apologize for existing.

It's OK to say no.

Along with feeling like you have to say sorry all the time, you also probably feel like you always need to say yes or always agree, out of fear you're being rude. Say no to doing all the work in the group assignment, or going on a second date with that one guy who talked about himself the whole time with a mouth full of fries, say no to whatever you don't want to do. Some people will call you names, but you should never feel forced to do anything you don't have to do. Trust me, you'll thank yourself later when you're at home watching Netflix and not sitting through another terrible date, or you're getting work done instead of going out with people you don't even like.

It's OK to be an angry girl.

It's common to get called "bitchy" when you stop saying sorry, and you start saying no. Somethings rub you the wrong way, and it's fine to let people know if they do that to you. Back in high school, I was the only one who took our sociology class "seriously" and when I refused to let this guy cheat off of me, he called me a bitch. When I made a comment about how it's annoying to do a bunch of work and have people who don't do anything get credit for it, he kept cutting me off and calling me "too emotional" and that maybe it was my "time of the month", yikes. People will tease "oh wow, you seem mad, are mad?" And you know what, maybe I am? Maybe I'm blood boiling pissed, but so what? It's an emotion, one that you're allowed to feel every now and then. You can't always be sunshine and happiness.

You are good enough!

It's really frustrating to feel like you're not allowed to be taken seriously for things you're passionate about. It also just really sucks to feel like you have to always smile and agree, especially when you don't see the same from your male counterparts. There are a lot of societal pressures (that don't make any sense, I know) that are still ingrained in everyone's brains about how women are supposed to act. It's understandable to be hesitant to openly love yourself in a world that will give you a huge "shame on you" and try to bend and break the parts that don't fit the expected standard. Societal pressures and expectations can really hit you in your early years, and stay with you later on. You're good enough! Your emotions aren't bitchy and they're not because you got your gift this month. Get pissed, demand what you deserve and leave the apologizes for the guys who belittled and doubted you.