1. There are plenty of people out there who swear that this is a “phase” you “should have grown out of” by the time you were about 13 or whenever it is that all girls discover makeup all at once.

2. And, of course, the people who think it’s an act you’re just playing into because you want to get closer to a bunch of guys, when, no, you can have guys who are friends and chances of you sleeping with them are next to none.

3. Whenever anyone expects you to wear a skirt or heels and you feel momentarily nervous about if you’re “doing this whole girl thing right.”

4. … even if if you have a shoe obsession or something — because even though you might be rough and tumble, you can still have a soft spot for things you think are pretty (whether or not you ever wear them).

5. Worse yet — whenever anyone tells you that “OMG, you look so great!!” when you do wear a dress, leading you to wonder if this is their way of saying that you somehow look less great at all other times.

6. No, you don’t need the basketball game you’re watching and clearly engrossed in explained to you, thanks though.

7. You know there are two kinds of tomboys:
A) The ones who proclaim they’re “not like other girls!” and “don’t trust other girls, guys are so much simpler!”
B) The girls who say “forget that,” have both guy and girl friends, and don’t let their own tomboy natures dictate who they will or will not hang with.

8. Ironically, you find that you often have the biggest issues with the former.

8. Any time anyone expresses fascination in giving you a makeover or helping you pick out clothes, you feel slightly like a Barbie doll that’s been given charity.

9. (But also, you kind of don’t totally hate it, and then feel so very conflicted internally.)

10. “But like, do you even OWN a skirt?”

11. People constantly ask you if you could maybe act like more of a lady, and for this reason, you strongly identify with the ragtag persona of one Eliza Doolittle undergoing the judgmental etiquette lessons of one Henry Higgins.

12. If someone ever gives pause when you want to join in on a game because they don’t want to “go easy” on you, they clearly don’t know what you’re made of (and are in for a very rude awakening).

13. Nail polish usually has a 0.05 second lifespan, so you either go gel or suffer the chipped consequences.

14. You have stared at Pinterest tutorials like they’re Ikea instructions, and know that somewhere, somehow, you will screw something up.

15. Though it’s not as if you’re entirely incompetent — you just have a very different set of priorities, and that’s not a judgment on anyone else’s.

16. You feel about new Nikes or Lululemons the way you suspect other girls feel about the Urban Decay naked pallette.

17. “Guys aren’t gonna like you if you act like that!” always raises a question: why would you seek the approval of guys who don’t like you as you are already?

18. And people often express dismay at the fact that you like to get dirty, or eat a lot, or are wearing sneakers instead of heels, to which the only acceptable answer is a very unapologetic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.