Somewhere along the way, women were taught that being “good” meant being agreeable.
Be nice. Be understanding. Give another chance. Don’t be difficult. Don’t be too loud, too opinionated, too demanding, too emotional, too independent or God forbid, too confident.
And if you stepped outside of that?
Well, suddenly you were the problem.
So this October, Pink She Wrote is embracing something a little different.
Pretty Wicked.
And no, I’m not talking about grabbing a broomstick, putting a hex on your ex, and disappearing into the woods under a full moon. Although, depending on the ex, I understand the temptation.
Being Pretty Wicked is about realizing that you can be soft without being a pushover. Feminine without performing femininity for someone else. Kind without giving everyone unlimited access to you.
You can be a good woman and still say no.
You can love people and still choose yourself.
You can be understanding and still decide, Actually, this doesn’t work for me.
That doesn’t make you mean.
It doesn’t make you selfish.
And it definitely doesn’t make you wicked.
But sometimes, when people are used to benefiting from the version of you who had fewer boundaries, the woman who finally develops them can look like the villain.
Let her.
Maybe the Witch Was Just Tired
Think about how often women who refuse to behave the way society expects them to are treated like something is wrong with them.
She doesn’t want marriage? Weird.
She doesn’t want children? Selfish.
She has standards? Picky.
She leaves the relationship instead of endlessly trying to fix it? She gave up.
She knows what she wants? Intimidating.
She says exactly what she thinks? Difficult.
She stops explaining herself?
Oh, now she has an attitude.
At some point, you have to wonder whether some women were ever actually “wicked”—or whether they simply stopped being convenient.
Maybe she wasn’t cold.
Maybe she was tired.
Maybe she wasn’t difficult.
Maybe she finally developed standards.
Maybe she wasn’t selfish.
Maybe she realized she had spent years pouring herself into everyone else’s cup while hers sat empty.
And maybe the scariest thing about a woman choosing herself is realizing she no longer needs permission to do it.
Pretty Doesn’t Mean Powerless
There’s also something I love about putting the words pretty and wicked together.
Because women are constantly pushed into categories.
Soft or strong.
Sweet or assertive.
Feminine or independent.
Pretty or powerful.
Why?
I want both.
Give me the lip gloss and the boundaries.
The cute outfit and the uncomfortable opinion.
The soft life and the ability to walk away when something threatens my peace.
You don’t have to harden yourself to become powerful.
Sometimes power looks incredibly soft.
Sometimes it looks like quietly deciding you won’t argue with someone committed to misunderstanding you.
Sometimes it looks like leaving.
Sometimes it looks like trusting that weird feeling in your stomach instead of talking yourself out of it.
Sometimes it looks like saying:
No.
And not adding a five-paragraph explanation afterward.
Now that is magic.
Trust Your Own Magic
Maybe that’s what this season is really about.
Not becoming somebody completely different.
Becoming more comfortable with the woman who was already there.
Trusting your intuition.
Being honest about what you want.
Breaking patterns that keep bringing you back to the same disappointment wearing a different face.
Protecting your peace without feeling guilty about it.
Letting yourself change your mind.
Taking up space.
Wearing the thing.
Starting the thing.
Leaving the thing.
And occasionally looking at something you once tolerated and thinking:
Girl… what the hell were we doing?
Growth is humbling like that.
But there’s something magical about finally trusting yourself enough to stop negotiating against your own happiness.
Welcome to the Pretty Wicked Era
This month, we’re talking about all of it.
The red flags we pretended were pink.
The standards we’re raising.
The boundaries we’re finally keeping.
The things women are told they should want.
Dating.
Friendships.
Confidence.
Intuition.
Fall favorites.
Hot takes.
And probably a little chaos, because this is still Pink She Wrote.
Consider Pretty Wicked permission to embrace your contradictions.
Be sweet.
Be opinionated.
Be romantic.
Be independent.
Be soft.
Be ambitious.
Be a little weird.
Change your mind.
Trust your gut.
Protect your peace.
Choose yourself.
You don’t have to become the villain in someone else’s story.
But if having standards, boundaries, opinions, and a life that actually belongs to you makes you a little wicked?
Fine.
At least you’ll look pretty doing it.
Welcome to Pretty Wicked.
There’s a little magic in choosing yourself.
