I am tired of being a girl.
It's exhausting, trying to fit into all these molds that society, men, and even we set for ourselves. It's exhausting, keeping up with the latest trends in fashion and makeup - what even is strobing - just to achieve some semblance of what the media determines is beautiful. It's exhausting to have to budget makeup and clothes into each month just to keep up and stay up to date with the newest $150 pallet or $200 skirt.
What's even more exhausting is when, after spending hundreds of dollars of our hard-earned money to fit those molds set for us, we are told that we are not good enough. We are told by boys that we are prudes if we don't put out and sluts if we do; we are told by parents that only whores wear "those" kind of outfits, and if we want respect then we have to dress like we deserve it; we are told by fellow girls that wearing short shorts and a midriff is slutty and it will send the wrong message.
So, at the end of everything, girls are told from the age of 13 to dress respectfully, which means covering up every portion of their body that could be deemed sexual, in an effort to make them seem more civil and well-mannered. At that age, when periods are only just beginning and breasts are still in the beginning stages, we as girls are told that our bodies are sexual objects of which we should ultimately be ashamed for.
It all starts with the middle school dress code.
Here, we are told that shorts can't be shorter than our knees because that'll distract the boys, and we can't wear tank tops no matter how hot it is because that'll distract the boys, and no one can see our bra straps because that'll distract the boys, and we can't wear shirts that show collar bone because that'll distract the boys. Basically, from the time we enter adolescence, we are shoved and restricted, bottled and labeled, and placed into the category "DANGEROUS." Because in so many scenarios, our shoulders, our legs, our bodies are dangers to the focus of teenage boys, and for their lack of focus or ability to pay attention, we are punished.
We are pulled from classes to change into something better, we are given reproachful looks and sneers in stores, we are whispered about on sidewalks, pointed at in hallways, and demeaned to nothing more than our bodies.
What this teaches girls is that from the time their body starts to change they will no longer be in control of their body. It will now be up to teachers to determine what they wear, it will be up to boys to determine how much makeup is a suitable amount, and it will be left to their parents to pick up the pieces of the broken girl left behind.
Because when misogyny becomes more important than a girls education, her success, her future, or her worth, then we have truly lost ourselves.
