To my past little me,

At some point in your young life, you will be faced with obstacles no girl should have to encounter.

By the age of twelve, you will most likely have experienced yourself or known someone who has had an eating disorder, the feeling of depression, or the act of bullying.

At the age of ten your ballet teacher will tell you to lose ten pounds in a month because she thinks you have baby fat.

Boys and P.E. teachers will tell you that girls can’t play flag football because you will end up getting hurt, so you will forever after be hesitant to play a “masculine” sport.

You may take an interest in Pokemon but most of the class that plays are boys and they won’t trade with you.

If there weren’t limits in society telling girls what is right from wrong, you probably would be a very different person. You were never a follower and stuck to what you believed in, but you did let the pressures get to you at times because you cared.

At school, to be treated well and fit in, most popular girls wore a great flawless amount of makeup and hiked up their skirts so that if they do bend over, you will see what’s underneath. It just seemed like girls were dressing up for other people rather themselves.

Your freshman year of college you attended all types of parties (frat, sports, and music). It wasn’t hard for men to come up to you and end up hanging out with them at the end of the night. You may have been a little naïve then because none of those friendships/ relationships lasted with the men you’ve talked to. Looking back on it, those parties sometimes appeared like a candy store to some men and women. You always thought it was odd while you were dancing or talking to some guys, their friends would give a thumbs up at them or a “secret message”, that really wasn’t so secret after all. Sometimes it felt like you were a piece of meat to them, as you could say anything to them and they wouldn’t care. That year you became tired of that lifestyle and smartly got out of that toxicity quickly.

There are times, even now, to current me, that I think this is a man’s world. All my life I’ve had more close guy friends than girlfriends, and as I got older I’ve noticed those friends started to treat me differently than their friends of the same sex. Sometimes when I hang out with a group of men, they seem to engage in conversation differently than with me as if they need to win each other’s approval. Not only women are treated differently socially but in the work field too, men still get paid higher. Don’t be discouraged, even though being a female is already extremely expensive. It’s proved that it’s easier getting a job and receive higher pay when you are attractive as well, so you’ll have to spend hundreds of dollars a year on makeup to keep up with societies expectations of what beauty is. Don’t forget you have to buy tampons and hygiene products every month, just for being born a girl, though you dread the pain and hassle already.

Last week, there was a wave of fear over many of us, especially women and minorities. A rich businessman and reality TV personality became the next president of the United States who has proven not to stand for our rights. On that Wednesday morning I stood and cried among my dear friends and watched the other candidate, Hillary Clinton’s concession speech. It broke my heart that she had to mention and focus on little girls like you, to not let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. But again, don’t be discouraged because the strength and intelligence of a woman is what makes us so special. There is a great power that women have when they come together like no other. When another woman is in trouble or disrespected, we have this motherly instinct that we need to step in and help. We should be looking out for everyone like that, men and women. It’s too painful to talk about what our next president believes in because there has been so much hate that was said.

I want you to focus on the love and good of others in the world. Even people who have different views than you and supported our elected president, we need to remember we are all human. We need to love the human race without picking a side to fight over. We need to see the bigger picture; that there is only one side, helping other people. And by people I mean everyone. We need to love every sex, race, and beliefs that don’t tie with hate, because loving is a lot easier.

So hang in there, little me’s of the world, I have a feeling you’ll be doing better/ more progressive things then my generation. Just remember that YOU matter.