As a woman, I see the media, people I know personally, and strangers in public criticizing other women for how they look, what they're wearing, how their hair looks, and how they're acting in public. We're told not to compliment ourselves and not to take too much pride in what we wear or how we act. Society has convinced us that displaying confidence makes us seem arrogant and overbearing. We're living in a society that makes us feel inadequate by being human, and I'm over it.

We live in a society where self-love can immediately make a person look selfish. Why are we "punishing" people for loving who they are as an individual when we could be celebrating that they have found peace in who they are? Life is one long journey, and we spend a great deal of it figuring out who we are and who we want to become. However, if we don't fit certain standards that have been set by others, even people that we have never met, then how can this become a reality for us?

I've seen and been affected by both the positive and negative effects of attempting to love who you are. On one hand, you finally begin to feel like you're where you're supposed to be. You believe you're where you belong. You're happy, confident, and feel like you're on top of the world! However, even in these shining moments, all it takes is one comment from a friend, someone sitting next to you, or a complete stranger to eliminate all positive energy. In an instant, you can feel ashamed for taking so much pride in who you are and in the place that you are at in your life. One moment can change it all.

Too many times, on social media especially, I see women shaming other women for their lifestyle or something about their appearance. Comments like these consistently reinforce the standards put on women, even by other women. We need to act a certain way, have a certain hair length to be perceived as "feminine," and we need to wear the trendiest clothes to gain value. What people fail to realize is that women can act as they wish, have any sort of hairstyle they desire and can wear a style of clothes ranging from tank tops to button-ups, oversized shirts, jean jackets, leggings, and everything in between.

To all women, I'd just like to say: you deserve to love yourself. Do not be afraid to be proud of who you are. After all, there is only one of you, and you should celebrate this uniqueness. Society tells us what we should do and how we should act, but I say that we must be unafraid in presenting ourselves and that we must prove that we are more than standards.