I am a girl, but not girly. Sounds weird, right? I believe that it’s perfectly normal; not every girl is going to be the exact same. Some girls take longer than others to accept that they are what they are, and nothing can change that. All my life, I’ve been really insecure. Now, I am starting to come to accept that it’s OK if I am not that girly. It’s really OK because the media, and just about everyone, would convince you to be girly when you know you’re not so girly. Here are some struggles that you can find if you’re not girly.

Wardrobe

I’ll admit it -- I’ve gone to Catholic schools since the eighth grade, and I wore uniforms until I was done with high school back in 2011. Not only that, but I always tend to dress a bit more abnormal than the rest of my peers. Even when I started college, I wished that there could be uniforms because it would be easy to call it a day. I’ve gone through the last five years of college going from wearing sweats to wearing leggings. Now, it’s a crisis thinking about having to get a wardrobe specifically for work/business. While I don’t have my heart set on having to look good everyday for work, I really believe that facial expressions and behaviors matter more.

Hair

Everyone always seem to want to try to experiment new hairstyles and dye it in a bunch of crazy colors. Me? I remember getting my hair highlighted every year during high school in a blonde hue because -- I realize now, but never realized in the past -- I have gray hair! I inherit it from my maternal grandmother, and only found out when I was 20. My mom found that out when I was 15, 16, or 17. Now, I have to get my hair dyed every other month, or every three months, to still have blonde hair.

Other than the thought of dying hair, getting a haircut and styling it is a struggle. I used to straighten my hair every day, but I haven’t used the straightener as often as I did. I allow my hair to be natural when it is down, or have it up in a ponytail or bun. Getting a haircut is a struggle, too, because you’d want to try a latest style, but there are some people who would agree/disagree. I like my hair short, it can frame my face more and it is easier to take care of, but sometimes I would get pressured to keep growing it long. Now whenever I have long hair, I would grow it long enough to donate.

Makeup

I like makeup, but like straightening my hair, it isn’t something that I would be doing every single day. On a normal day, I would just go for a swipe of lip balm, that’s it. When it comes to having my entire face covered in makeup, I will only do that on special occasions. My viewpoint is pretty much the same as the one about clothes when it comes to working for a job. I don’t believe that you have to look pretty all the time when it comes to working a job. Certain careers/jobs would depend on that, but I believe in being yourself more than looking pretty.

Body

This is a stigma that has been around for years; even skinny girls would watch the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show wishing that they could be as small as the Angels are. Even the media can be stigmatizing putting girls on magazine covers, or in the magazines, and editing the way their bodies look. Everywhere we go, there is always the stigma following us around. We all look a certain way and we all should be okay with that, or motivate ourselves to make any changes we want to when considering fitness/nutrition.

Whether you are a girl who is girly, or not, you’re all beautiful just the way you are, and nobody should change who you are! Be you. Be honest with yourself, be honest about your personality -- nobody can change that.