Being myself and not being a copy is something I value in life. I value being honest and keeping to my word. I’m a junior majoring in cyber security and my college years so far have yet to brainwash me into becoming a full on liberal.

The stereotype for women in my field is that we are not feminine and anti-social. I knew that stereotype was the last of things I wanted to be known and remembered by. Learning to embrace my femininity in a field where many women tone down their femininity has been a hard journey and made me feel isolated.

In my computer related classes, I’m always that girl coming in with my hair done, make up done and wearing feminine clothing that embraces my femininity. Soon, I realized I was the only girl doing so and I started to feel isolated.

I took a look at the bigger issue and realized so many women in STEM fields often feel afraid of not being taken seriously, so they downplay their femininity. I often noticed that many of them subscribe to the feminist ideology which is something I am strongly against. The women who have downplayed their femininity actually don’t feel happy in themselves because they’re being something they’re not. They lie to themselves that their masculine like selves is who they actually are but it’s not.

It took time for me to accept the fact this is who I am and I will never change that. I never had issues with being taken less seriously for the way I present myself. I use my feminine beauty as a way to make me feel unique and stand out in the field. Society tells women that femininity is old fashioned and women shouldn’t embrace it. This is a toxic mindset because women should have the right to embrace themselves in whatever makes them happiest even if it’s not exactly the most feminine.

Being feminine to me means freedom.