The Struggle is Real: The self-respect struggle

Man, the struggle is real…

It’s a real struggle to be a girl.

Now before you put this paper down because this is going to be one of those articles about girls whining about how weak we are and how our lives are so rough, give me a chance to explain.

I am not like most girls.

The only times I wore dresses growing up were in the Thanksgiving feast day we celebrated in fifth grade, when I was forced to wear a skirt, and for proms—my junior and senior years of high school.

I did not wear makeup until the summer after my freshman year of college.

I was never into the latest fashion and I preferred to create my own fashion… if you can call it that (insert shudder at memories).

My dad, mom, and brother were almost constantly telling me to go change because I didn’t match, or I looked like a dufus, or some kind of variation of how they were embarrassed to be seen with me dressed in the way I was dressed.

But there was one thing my family members never had to say to me and that was, “You are dressed inappropriately; go put more clothes on.”

I cannot count how many times I have listened to people, and girls especially, complain about how the media portrays women, about how the media makes women into objects, and I cannot say I disagree with those women.

But, the hypocrisy is what really rubs me the wrong way. These same women who bash the media for making women into objects are the women who are dressing with minimal clothing and with too much skin showing.

Now, before y’all start whining and moaning, no I do not think women have to cover themselves head to toe, and I do not think women are the ones to blame for the issues we have in this world with sex and sexual violence, but I do not think dressing in that manner helps fix the problem.

There’s certainly a struggle to fight the status quo and to dress modestly in all situations, but it can be done, and should be done if we want to change the way women are viewed in the world.

If we do not buy the skimpy, scandalous clothing, the fashion industry will eventually change or they simply will not make any money.

If we start dressing like we respect ourselves and we keep “our girl parts covered” as my mom says, modesty will soon become the norm.

So, make the change. Respect yourself, and stop dressing like you don’t respect yourself or your family.

The struggle is definitely real, but so is chocolate, so just eat it and stop stressing about the dang calories and how you will look in the clothes.