They are always trying to fit us into boxes, to stereotype us.

They say: your hair is short; you must be a lesbian. You are an Asian; you must be smart. You are a girl, so this is how you must dress, how you must walk and speak and the things you must care about. You are a boy, so you must wear this and like these things and look like this.

This is your box. Get in. Fit.

They are the people around you. Parents, teachers, classmates, people who see you at the bus stop and make snap judgements. They are friends of friends who see you at parties.

They try to fit you into a box.

But nobody, really, fits. I knew a girl who smoked weed but loved quilting. I knew a boy who wore all black and lots of eyeliner but cared a lot about his grades. I knew a girl who had short hair and wore plaid but was straight.

We people are a mess of contradictions. We cannot be stereotyped, we cannot be told: you must be this.

Because we aren’t. To be that- to be the stereotype they have chosen for us- we must abandon ourselves.

I am a straight girl with hair cut short, and I choose to wear baggy sweaters. People tell me, “you should dress more feminine.” “You look like a boy.” “You look like a lesbian.” “Maybe you should wear more makeup.” Get back in your straight girl box. You need to look like a straight girl again.

You know what? Screw that. Screw you. I will be who I want, I will defy the stereotypes and the standards placed upon me by society and by my peers.

I will not abandon myself to be who I am supposed to be.

I refuse to fit in my box.