Comments about peoples’ physical appearance aren’t easy for anyone to handle — especially when they’re coming from your parents.

How would you react if your parents criticized your sense of style? Would you change your clothes and hairstyle to please them, or would you insist on wearing what makes you feel comfortable?

Read how one Redditor’s tomboyish style has become the focus of her mother’s criticism.

See the story below for all the details.

AITA for defending my style of clothing to my mom?

For context, I grew up and still live in a predominantly male household — my dad and two brothers compared to my mom and I (23F).

My brothers played sports for most of their life and still do, so naturally, I had to go to their sporting events for support.

I was surrounded by males for much of my childhood and teenage years more than I was around my actual gender.

I definitely think witnessing masculinity so much had an impact on how I like to dress currently. I’m not someone who loves to wear dresses or get dressed up to go out unless I’m told to dress a certain way.

Her fave wardrobe is as follows:

I love wearing backwards hats, athletic shorts and t-shirts and having my hair pulled back.

It’s been that way probably since I was sixteen.

My mom has criticized how I dress before, stating I don’t put enough effort into my outfits or doing my hair when I do go out in public.

She complains that she never sees me with my hair down and how I have a whole wardrobe of nice clothes to choose from instead of the casual clothing I wear.

But, then this happened…

Yesterday was [when] I fired back at her.

We were going to church, and I came downstairs wearing a sundress and had my hair in a bun.

The first thing she said to me was, “why don’t you cut your hair off at this point since I never see you with it down anyways.”

I got offended, stated how I love my hair, and that if we weren’t going to outdoor church I probably would have left it down.

Oh, but the OP’s mom wasn’t done yet.

She, then, went on a rant about how she wanted to see my outfit for my first day at my internship and how, at a work environment, I needed to start dressing professionally and appropriately — how a female should dress.

I get where she’s coming from, in terms of business apparel, but I told her it’s not like I haven’t dressed up before. I’ve had to dress up to go to work at the school before, and I dress up for church.

And the OP called the mom out for making this about gender.

I also told her she had no right to put a gender label on this, knowing full well I dealt with comments while at college.

If she has a problem with it, that’s her opinion, but I love dressing more masculine than feminine, and I don’t think she should dictate how I dress.

The OP’s father has weighed in, albeit a tad differently.

My dad has also said I could dress more nicely when it comes to going out to eat at restaurants or shopping, but hasn’t brought up gender as a factor like my mom has.

So, AITA for defending my style of clothing to my mom?

So, is this daughter in the wrong for not bending to her mother’s wishes? Let’s read the comments from Reddit below to get a better sense of things.

People reminded the OP that she is, in fact, an adult.

They also said that the mother needs to chill out.

And finally, one Redditor recommended she find her own place.

This woman is too grown up for her mother to be telling her what to wear!

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