Hello, my name is Jinni Barak, and I have a deep love for the three c’s: cheeseburgers, chocolate, and CROP TOPS. Yes, believe it or not, you can both enjoy higher calorie treats and midriff baring apparel. How? It’s easy, you just wear whatever you damn well please.

My journey with crop tops started in the early summer of 2015. An article in Oprah Winfrey’s “O Magazine” received a lot of backlash for claiming women should only try crop tops “if (and only if) you have a flat stomach”. This article started on online sensation with the hashtag #RockTheCrop where women of all sizes and stomach thicknesses bore their navels in the name of body positivity.

This was not the first time crop tops have paved the way for a body positivity discussion. In recent years as shorter tops have become more popular, media culture has tried to police who can wear them. On Twitter a very common thread is the “If you’re over 130 pounds”; and in sum it is an attempt to monitor and ridicule women who may not meet this predetermined weight but choose to don a crop top. Among the misdeeds for these women are wearing: short-shorts, bikinis, and skinny jeans; claiming that their physical outlook onto the world is more important than that person’s happiness or freedom of their own wardrobe.

After seeing all these stories, and many women defying the outcry of strangers on the Internet, I decided to give the crop top a shot (for feminism, right?). Now keep in mind, this was a time I was very insecure about my body (as most college women are). I was weighing in at about 170 pounds, and the very idea of everyone seeing any part of my stomach terrified me to no end. But I grabbed that bright red $4.90 tank style crop top at Forever 21, and went into that dressing room very nervous, but optimistic.

I LOVED it, I felt cute and sexy, I felt strong and powerful; and after some encouragement from my coworkers, I bought the damn thing. Next shift I worked, I wore it with some high waist jeans and took an embarrassing amount of selfies in the bathroom.

I’ll be honest, I received some stares (mainly from disapproving mothers), and I was a little aware at first, but after buying about 2-3 more and mixing them into my wardrobe a little more frequently, it felt like a second skin.

Now, I’m not saying crop tops are for everyone; I personally believe, that when you’re buying clothes, you should put comfort first and fashion second. However, I think that only allowing yourself to some sections of the store because you see your body as subpar is only damaging to this idea of body positivity and loving yourself as you truly are. If you had told me a year ago I’d even own a crop top today I would probably laugh in your face. But believe it or not, I’ve actually become known for them; I literally have a t-shirt drawer and a crop top drawer for easy access; and I’m still well over that 130-pound borderline.

So take that, Oprah.