Thanks a lot. Note the sarcasm.
Growing up, I was involved in so much. From gymnastics to cheerleading to even wearing dresses, I abandoned it all. I hated the color pink, I hated being a girl, I hated anything that wasn't playing soccer and digging for bugs in the dirt.
I was weird.
But as I grew up and got older, the hatred grew less and less. I learned what makeup was (and eventually learned how to actually use it). I wore dresses. I'd have my hair curled, even though I still to this day don't know how to do it myself. I love my feminine side and I love being a woman.
It breaks my heart that my little girl self was filled with so much self-hate about my gender. She didn't know how incredible it is to be a woman yet. She didn't realize that she could have girl friends and that girls actually weren't "less drama than boys." She didn't realize monthly cramps would be just a small blip on her radar. She didn't know how beautiful she was. And would be.
Quitting every seemingly "girly" activity was just a misstep that I've regretted growing up. I'd go to high school football games and wish I was out there cheering or competing in competitions. I'd watch the Olympics and wish I could do the floor routines. It might've been what little me needed — to distance myself from the things I had hated at the time in order to appreciate and grow to love them later. However, it doesn't stop me from reminiscing about missed opportunities and passions, though.
Being a tomboy was quite the experience, and it was definitely a big part of who I was growing up. So even though my stupid child self decided to quit every "girly" extracurricular and hated the core of her gender, I forgive her.
She grew to love being a girl and became empowered by it instead of feeling inferior to men. She wears dresses, short skirts, and crop tops. She does her eyebrows and freehands her winged eyeliner. She wears pink. She's a female with pride.