What does it mean to be a woman? Does it mean I have to be sensitive? Understanding? Nurturing? Am I allowed to be assertive? Confident? Boisterous? All our lives, we are taught that femininity and masculinity are two separate entities. Pink is for girls, blue is for boys. Girls like to go shopping, boys like to play sports. Maybe I was just an anomaly because my favorite color is blue, or that I tend to not really care about shopping for fun. I grew up playing sports, I was confident, I was proud.

When you're a child, your parents do all that they can to shield you from all of the ugly in the world. They do their best to show you all of the good in the world, and all of that good is great, but with good comes bad, and the bad can be really bad.

Now, I love my parents and I am thankful for everything they gave me. They raised me in a way that taught me that I am way more capable than what I think I am and that I am free to make my own decisions when necessary. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks that way.

I don't really remember the first time I learned about sexism, but I do remember in elementary school when some of the boys would make jokes about girls making sandwiches or other things like that. I didn't think much of it when I was younger, but now that I'm in college, it's very hard to miss. I've been called a whore, bitch, slut, cunt, etc. Most of the time it's by drunk men who don't know the difference between a compliment and an insult, but that's beside the point. There are also people out there who genuinely believe that women are not allowed to have "masculine" qualities. We are apparently not allowed to be strong, confident, capable, independent. Apparently, our only role in this world is to cater to men's every need.

I have been told that being a woman makes it more difficult to be successful in the workplace. I have also been told that my gender holds me back. I have seen countless surveys that say that workers tend to trust a male superior more than a female superior because women in the workplace tend to be seen as "bossy" or "bitchy" while men tend to be seen as "assertive" or "natural leaders". Why is it like that though? It's not like I chose to be born female. I just so happened to be born with female genitalia, because, that happens half the time. I know right? It's shocking.

Being a woman in 2017 is quite surreal if I'm being honest. We're at that point where more and more women are feeling empowered, but are also being suppressed because some are afraid of what will happen when we gain "power." I mean, all that we really want is to have control over our own bodies. Is that too much to ask for?

The important thing to remember is that we, as empowered women, should not have to apologize for being empowered. We have voices, and we shouldn't be afraid to use them. I'm not going to start apologizing to every male I've ever declined who then claimed that they, "only want to have a good time." Nor am I going to start apologizing to every sexist person because I didn't agree that I belong in the kitchen instead of out there in the real world. I know who I am, and I won't be apologizing for that either, and neither should you.