From the moment a girl is born, she is engulfed by adjectives and unrealistic societal standards, which continue into adulthood. A well-oiled ecosystem of expectations, thinking models, and beliefs traceable to patriarchal ideologies, imbalanced power relations, and institutional reinforcement. As a young girl, I was surrounded by other young girls and non-binary kids who experienced the pressure to be "obedient," "lady-like," and "selfless," reinforcing the notion that the qualities of a "good girl" were ones to idealize and imitate as a standard. The constant underlining of them repeatedly proved to be more problematic than it would be beneficial. Teachings revolved around measuring our value by how "cooperative, accommodating, and obedient" we were and how feminity compels the fluidity and sensitivity society sees and asserts as inferior. How our only contributions to the world would be when we gave ourselves entirely to others, and if we fell short of interpersonal and external expectations, we'd be deemed selfish or wrong, often with a dash of indelible shame. And for so many— dehumanization and the outright denial and violation of human rights, from economic, social, cultural, civil, and political discrimination to gaping inequalities. A paradigm like this deliberately creates a spectrum of conditions for us to be able to dismiss our full humanity, uniqueness, and other women and femmes, restricting our natural capacities, choices, and needs. A systematized formula like this can further underpin the foundation—a knowing one—for oppression to remain alive and mired within reach of other forms of injustice. This foundation relies on endorsing negative stereotypes and narratives, overt and covert, direct and indirect. What it does prevents collective liberation for all. The challenges facing us as a people have always been clear, and progress doesn't need to be bleak. Let us reject what harms and brutalizes us. Let our actions, speech, and movements affirm the basic fundamental freedom of women, girls, Two-Spirit, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and people of marginalized genders. Today and for all time to come. #MareaVerde #OSD