On December 28th, 2015 Lilly Singh released a video titled, “The #GirlLove Challenge.” Singh challenged her 11 million YouTube subscribers, especially the girls, to end girl-on-girl hate and spread positivity and love instead.

The video led to a powerful series on Singh’s second channel called, “#GirlLove” where she interviews women who have influence young girls such as former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama, and activist Winnie Harlow.

This message of spreading positivity to others instead of hatred is extremely important to start teaching girls of all ages, young girls especially because they will grow up with more confidence in their own unique characteristics.

Sometimes girls put each other down because we think it will raise our own self-esteem. This doesn’t make sense because, as girls, we know how hard it can get. Girls get insecure, they have mood swings and bad hair days. All girls can understand each other’s struggles in one way or another.

Why do we feel so threatened when we are introduced to other girls? I know I have felt threatened by another girl simply because I am feeling insecure about myself. Instantly I (and I know for a fact I know I am not the only one who has done this) compare myself to her and if I convince myself she is better than me in any way, I will put myself down.

There is a video on Singh’s YouTube channel, “IISuperWomanII,” called,”Three Girls, One Elevator.” It is an extremely accurate example of what goes through my mind when I encounter other girls.

Some girls will put others down because they have insecurities and feel threatened by girls who they feel are “better” than them. Online you see a lot of girl-on-girl hate. Body shaming and calling each other derogatory names are often seen on and offline among girls.

The challenge Singh created is to end this hate. Make an effort to say something nice to a girl you see on the street, or online. We all understand we can have bad days and insecurities. Try to spread some love to another girl to help her feel more confident, strong, pretty, and worthy with simple, kind gestures

I also see this as an issue between boys for similar reasons. It’s important to shatter these unrealistic expectations for boys and girls. We need to start embracing who we are and stop changing how we look and act to fit in.

Check out the Me to We website for ways to spread the love to girls.