Get married, have many kids, and take care of your husband. These are the things that society have been telling women that they will find their purpose in. Leave it to the man to get educated and provide; women’s place is in the home. But what if the woman wants to get educated? What if she doesn’t want to have children or get married? My whole life I’ve felt like I never fit in the stereotypical category society puts women in. I never cared for princesses or fairytale romance; I was always more interested in the games the boys were playing. Whether they were just taking things apart, doing science experiments, or playing with cars; I just wanted to play with them. As I grew older into my teenage years, I was told that I need to find a husband that would be suitable to have children with and who would provide income. I couldn’t help but feel stuck between what society was telling me to do and what my heart wanted. I never wanted to get married; I wanted to do math and science and spend my life traveling and researching. Ever since I was young, I have had a passion for weather. Whether that be running outside to see a funnel cloud or just wanting to know why it rains, I knew from a young age that I wanted to research meteorological conditions. Despite societies expectations for women, I am going to fight for my rights to pursue science and I am going to embrace what makes me who I am. Regardless of who society wants me to be, I will continue to express my views and opinions and fight for more women to have opportunities to become scientists if they want to. I am so thankful for all the women who have fought for the rights for us to be able to go into science and not just be confined to society’s expectations. I want to make a difference in this world just like the women who came before me did. I will continue to fight for people who have less opportunities than me and I will continuously be greatful for all the opportunities I have been provided. So next time they tell me I have to be a housewife and let the man provide, I will remind the of the reason we know what DNA, RNA, and radioactivity are; a woman.

In the hit song “pretty isn’t pretty,” singer and writer Olivia Rodrigo utilizes her word choices to convey the unfair beauty standards teenagers are held to in order to portray the hardships of the teenage experience. Specifically the lyric in verse two that states “You fix the things you hated, and you’d still feel so insecure,” resonates with me the most since I have always struggled with my self image. Ever since I was young, I have always compared myself to all my peers, wondering if I was pretty enough, smart enough, or just enough in general. I was never the pretty, popular, or smart kid. I just blended in most of the time. In high school, I constantly compared myself to everyone else and even developed an eating disorder because society told me I was too fat to be beautiful. Rodrigo’s lyric about fixing the things you hate and still being insecure is so prevalent in my life. I was bullied for glasses, so I stopped wearing them; I was told I was fat, so I became skinny; I was told I talked too much, so I stopped talking. I fixed all these things that were making me feel insecure, and yet, I still struggle with my self image. This lyric encapsulates the teenage experience by portraying the expectations teenagers are held to nowadays. Teenagers are exposed to so many false narratives that they have to live up to. Especially for women, the expectations to be tall and skinny, have clear skin, and have a pretty boyfriend are exemplified in social media and magazines. These harsh expectations have a direct correlation with many of the mental health issues teenagers struggle with today. Teenagers on television are normally played by actors who are in their 20s-30s which also sets up a false expectation that teenagers should be more grown up. Television, social media, and magazines have always portrayed the “perfect woman” or “strongest man” which has been making teenagers feel like they are not enough for years. Pretty truly is not pretty enough. No matter how hard you try, there will always be someone who wants to tear you down. There will always be someone you think is prettier, smarter, stronger, or just better. No matter how pretty you are, society will always tell you that you are not enough. So, one thing all teenagers have to deal with is that even if they’d “..fix the things [they] hated, [they’d] still be so insecure.”