Advice to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl Wannabes of America

The minute you start trying to fit some stereotype is the minute people stop taking you seriously. I tried SO hard to be this goth girl in high school. And while I wore all the right clothes and listened to all the right music, and totally embraced the lifestyle, NO ONE thought I was a goth. Not the goth kids, not the popular kids, not anybody. I was a poser, through and through, because I was too worried about the label and not worried enough about being the person I actually was. And the minute I quit the black thing and started wearing what I want to wear was when I gained respect from everyone. Kid you not, my life got so much more full and healthy the minute I stopped trying.

Just throw every supposed archetype out the window and focus on being the YOU that YOU want to be. Don't do anything you wouldn't naturally do on your own. If you don't like the hipster music, don't listen to it. If herbal teas make you gag, don't drink them. If skinny jeans make your butt look big, don't wear them. If a vintage bike is too expensive for your budget, don't buy one. And if the hot guitarist can't hold his own and take care of your needs in a relationship, break up with him. Be the awesome girl that you are and don't settle for the fake stuff that society throws at you all the time.