as a kid, i hated the color pink because, for as long as i could remember, it was forced upon me. i was always told a girl's favorite color should be pink or colors that are light, and i didn’t like knowing that i couldn’t make my own choices just because of my gender. i didn’t like that on the playground girls were told to do other things that wouldn’t get themselves hurt while boys could do whatever they wanted. i didn’t like that in gym class we would have to do one girl and one boy when picking because the boys would just pick each other believing they were “stronger” than girls. i saw femininity as being weak and not being able to make my own choices. so i did whatever i could to go against it. i would refuse to wear makeup, i would wear clothing that went against gender norms, i would play in mud, i’d never let anyone see me upset because i believed that’s what girls did, and they had taught us that girls were weak. eventually, as i grew up, i started wearing makeup, i started wearing jewelry, i started wearing light colors, and i even started liking the color pink after years of despising it along with myself. i learned that being feminine isn’t weak, and girls are just as strong as boys, maybe even stronger.
