I'm just a girl and I don't care if that offends you.

Girl boss.

Young ho.

Professional girly.

Girl dinner, girl math, blah blah blah.

I bet you’ve heard all these cute little phrases to describe how women move through life.

Small dinners made up of random snacks, justifying expensive purchases with “girl math,” making pink spreadsheets for reports (just me? okay nvm).

WE’RE JUST GIRLS!!!!!

And if you can’t already tell from my baby pink blog, I’m all for it. It’s fun, it’s cute, it’s lighthearted and whimsical.

So… what’s the pushback?

Oh, there’s a lot.

Picture from Michelle Redfern's Instagram post.

There are people who claim that by throwing “girly” on top of everything, we’re diminishing ourselves as women.

Michelle Redfern says, “I am not a girlie. You are not a girlie. We are fully grown, battle-

tested, wisdom-wielding, world-changing women,” in an Instagram post.

She adds, “If we keep calling ourselves girlies, the world will keep treating us like children. So, let’s start acting like the grown-ass women we are.”

Heard, woman.

So what... you want me to stop calling myself whimsical? Soft? Fun? Surely I can’t handle the pressures of adulthood and keep my optimism. Surely I need to carry myself with the weight of everything I’ve been through just to prove I can do hard shit too. Surely someone who calls herself “just a girl” couldn’t possibly change the world.

Let me grow the fuck up. My bad, queen.

After reading a think piece from Refinery29 titled “We’re All Girlies Online... It's Not That Deep," which talked about the sense of community in calling everyone (men, cats, coworkers) “girlies,” I came across a comment that stopped me.

User YONOOO wrote:“Why are women constantly infantilised? You don’t hear men often being called the boys/boydem/lil lads etc.”

I understand, babe. Truly.

Maybe my boyfriend is the only man on Earth who refers to his friends as “the boys.” You’re right, we never casually call men boys. That’s totally not a thing. My bad for missing that one.

Okay, let me stop being sarcastic for a second and actually say what I mean.

The idea that I have to stop calling myself a girl in order to be taken seriously is just as repulsive to me as the phrase “man up.”

It reinforces the idea that girls like me, who love pink, who are bubbly, optimistic, and still have a little sparkle in their eye shouldn't taken seriously.

That in order to be respected, I have to harden myself. Tone it down. Fit into some narrow definition of a “strong woman.”

And what’s craziest? That definition is often wrapped up and sold back to us as feminism.

I will never stop authentically being myself.

Have I been in rooms where people underestimate me because I’m taking notes with a Hello Kitty pen in a pink fuzzy notebook? Absolutely.

Do I prove them wrong when my work, ideas, and voice speak for themselves? Every. Single Time.

Do not tell me what kind of woman I need to be to succeed.

I know exactly how far I’ve gotten by being myself and I’m not stopping now.

So while you’re busy trying to squeeze yourself into a version of womanhood you think will earn you respect, I’ll be over here doing me and encouraging other women to do the same.

Whether you call yourself a boss bitch, a girly pop, a young ho, or a fully grown, battle-tested, wisdom-wielding, world-changing woman…

Good luck, babes!

Kindly,

Kat