A couple of days ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about a tv show that we both share an interest in. I made a comment about how I thought one of the actresses was beyond gorgeous. The friend I was talking to proceeded to say "I think she was much prettier before she got botox. Now, she just looks plastic and gross."

I had to take both a physical and mental pause. What my friend said really stroke a chord in me. Maybe it was because of the way he said it. He said it as if her appearance was an insult to him and that his opinion of her should be the only one that matters.

Women are constantly told how they should look in the form of how they should do their hair, what clothes they should wear, how they do their make-up, how much they should weigh, etc. But then if a woman does something to keep up with those standards that are placed on her, she's ridiculed even further. Honestly, we just can't win.

Most of this criticism comes from a man's opinion. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an article or just some random guy saying "girls, we don't really care if you wear make-up. To be honest, we kind of hate it." They say it in a way where they expected me to just drop the eyeliner from my hand, wipe the sweat off my brow, and be like "oh, thank God. I don't have to do that anymore."

But, I want to let guys in on a little secret, mostly because I'm sick of men and their ego trips. I'm tired of them thinking that we take care of our skin, or buy cute clothes, or do anything that has anything to do with their opinion on us.

Spoiler Alert: Most girls don't do anything to their appearance for men or to please someone else, they do it for themselves.

Whether a girl decides to wear a lot of make-up or whether she decides to keep it natural, she's not making that decision based on what a guy thinks about her. She is making that decision based on what she feels or she thinks. If she feels that she looks the best in bright red lipstick, blue and green eyeshadow, and a contour, she's going to wear exactly that. Or, maybe she just finds make-up fun and likes to experiment. If a girl decides that she wants to get a tan, it's because she feels like she looks better tan. If a girl decides that she wants Botox, it's because she wants to fix something that she may be insecure about or that she doesn't like about herself.

It. almost. never. has. anything. to. do. what. a. man. thinks.

It's 2019. We need to stop acting like a woman's only purpose is to be pleasing for a man to look at. Or, that she has to fit certain standards. Let us live. Let us do what makes us happy. If you don't like it, don't look at us. It's really not going to make a difference, because our confidence and our love for ourselves has zero to do with anyone else's opinion.

*mic drop*