Being a woman in the military, or any male-populated field, brings unique challenges. I never questioned the way I dressed, looked, or carried myself as a woman. I never wondered if being feminine would change how people viewed my intelligence, my capability, or whether I belonged somewhere. It wasn’t until I joined the military that I started to become painfully aware of it. I was consistently told I was “too girly” or didn’t “look the part” for the job I wanted. Over time, it made me self conscious of something I had never been before. Being a woman. So I started diminishing the parts of myself that made me feel feminine. I slowly erased them because it felt like what I needed to do to survive in the environment I was in. Women in these fields live under a microscope. There are constant rumors, assumptions, or people trying to explain away your success as anything other than the fact that you are really damn good at what you do. For a long time, I let that affect me. Until one day I decided I wasn’t going to anymore. The younger version of me deserved to feel safe enough to exist exactly as she was. So I let her come back. I stopped believing I needed to erase those things for my strength to be taken seriously. At the end of the day, that matters more. I have watched many women dim their light to hide pieces of themselves just to blend in and be “one of the guys.” If that is who you are, embrace it. But if it isn’t, don’t lose yourself trying to become someone people can digest easier. I’ve witnessed women enter the next chapter not knowing who they are because survival required them to leave pieces of themselves behind. I never want that for another woman. You are allowed to be a woman. You are allowed to take up space without becoming harder to prove you deserve to be there. None of that diminishes your intelligence, discipline, or capability. And it sure as hell doesn’t diminish your ability to walk into your field and absolutely crush it. So when the boots come off, wear the damn heels if you want to. Not because you have anything to prove. But because you should never have to become less of a woman to prove how powerful you are as one. - @lifewithtiffanyz