14 Things Badass Self-Respecting Women Never Do

Badass, self-respecting women exude power and grace. We try hard to bring out the best in the people around us. When we’re at our best, we walk in and light up the room. But being a badass isn’t free — we pony up strength and courage, we power through fear and we find a way to be comfortable with vulnerability. We do it all — except for these things:

1. We Don’t Piddle On The Pity Potty. We pull up our big girl panties and move forward. No badass sits around and feels sorry for herself. We have way too much moxie for that, and too much self-respect to play the victim. We won’t be RSVP’ing for any of your pity parties either.
2. We Don’t Over-Apologize. W don’t constantly say “I’m sorry” as if we have to apologize for everything we think, feel or do. We aren’t sorry for our emotions. We aren’t sorry when we have to confront someone for hurting our feelings. That said, we do offer sincere apologies when warranted and we offer condolences when appropriate. Otherwise, we’re not sorry.
3. We Don’t Put Up With BS. If you want a spot in the life of a badass self-respecting woman you must: a) do what you say you’re going to do; b) be a supportive friend (not a nay-saying unsupportive foe); and c) be honest and upfront about stuff. Of course, there is a laundry list of other BS we won’t tolerate either. Suffice it to say, it’s the strong, responsible, genuine and kind-hearted fellow-badasses who win us over.
4. We Don’t Give Away Our Power. Badasses ante up the gumption to break the crappy cycle of disempowerment. We get rid of people who are power vampires. We try to minimize thoughts that make us feel powerless. We’re in the driver’s seat on a full-throttle joyride of our own lives.
5. We Don’t Get Walked All Over. Our ass-kicking boots are made for walking… away. We demand to be treated well. Every badass, self-respecting woman knows she deserves respect and love.
6. We Don’t People Please at our own expense. We value taking care of people and doing kind things for others, but not at the expense of ourselves, our well-being or our dreams. We don’t put ourselves on the back-burner for anyone else. We don’t feel guilty for offering up a big-fat-grumpy-cat-style “NO” and making our own needs our priority.
7. We Don’t Body Shame Ourselves. Badass women don’t berate themselves over their bodies. We don’t have time for that stuff. We don’t piss and moan about being fat — we either learn to love and accept ourselves, or we deploy a plan to help us get fitter and healthier if that’s what we decide we need. And when we doll ourselves up on occasion, we do it for ourselves — we know that we’re worth far more than our appearance.
8. We Don’t Perform Self-Deprecating Diatribes. We refuse to make a comedy routine out of false modesty or belittling ourselves. Instead we stand strong in our confidence. Now, because we know our worth, we may on occasion wield a little self-deprecating humor artfully and with purpose — but there’s a big difference.
9. We Don’t Sit Around And Wait For The Phone To Ring (Or A Text To Chime). We’re badass women, we’ve got more important stuff to do! We’re independent. We have lives. We’re awesome. We can take you or leave you. If you’re great we’d rather take you, but don’t be an asshat. Call/text appropriately.
10. We Don’t Take Piece Of Crap Exes Back. We don’t entertain lame “I’ve changed” speeches. We don’t respond to his half-past pathetic 3am “heeey” text. We know that relationships sometimes fail and when they do, we move forward, not backward.
11. We Don’t Bitch Shame Or Crap Talk Other Women. Badass, self-respecting women work hard to help other women up. We don’t push them down. Personally, when I call another woman a bitch it is never to disparage — it’s said with love and reverence; a term of endearment for a fellow-badass, self-respecting woman.
12. We Don’t Obsess Over The Past Because We’ve Moved The Hell On. Past loves, past lusts, past mistakes, half-night stands, cheap regrets, figuring out how to tie a perfect ponytail… we let that stuff go. What hasn’t been let go of — well, we’re bringing our badassery to the mat and working that stuff out.
13. We Don’t Ask For Permission For Anything Because We Already Granted It To Ourselves. Nobody gets to tell us what we can and can’t do. Nobody gets to decide what we can and can’t accomplish. Nobody gets to tell us who we are supposed to be, or not be. We do what we want.
14. We Don’t Wait Around For Opportunity To Knock. Because we’ve already built a door and then busted it the hell down.