The Summer I Turned Pretty has quickly become the show that everyone knows and talks about. From VMAs to NFLs, it is everywhere, and the whole world seems to be divided into Team Conrad, Team Jeremiah and the rare Team Belly. However, you will also find a lot of hate in this fandom - by those who have been a lover of the books, indulged in the series for years or merely jumped on The Summer I Turned Pretty bandwagon because it was the trend. However, the number of reels, videos and posts we have seen where people hate on Belly, question her intent, call her names or merely wish the worst upon her - from both sides, is astounding. It is riddled with misogyny and the sheer need for a female character to be poised and perfect and always compliant. And as The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Episode 10 brings with the fact that Belly dared to date someone who was not a Fisher Boy, even after she was getting the letters from Conrad and trying to mend ways with Jeremiah, the internet is bound to be filled with some more casual Belly Hate. Here’s why we think you need to take a step back, reflect and understand Isabel Conklin instead.

Let Belly Live

Belly is a girl in her early 20s. She has barely seen the world, barely lived and experienced love - twice - but with the boys she has known all her life. Even if she continues to have feelings for Conrad, and even Jeremiah - it is important and even healthy for her to experience casual dating and relationships - with people who have not known her all her life. Belly casually mentioning that she has had flings is a good thing for her to experience and understand her own likes and dislikes, without having heavy emotions attached to it. Which brings me to her relationship with Benito. What Makes ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ So Appealing to All Age Groups?

Every Girl Deserves a Light-Hearted Relationship

As much as you may love and adore Belly Conrad or think Belly Jeremiah was the endgame, the reality is the two relationships were heavily wrapped with death, sadness and grief. And while those bonds may run deep, they should not be the only relationship you experience. We know that Conrad has had healthier breakups (Aubery) and flings (Nicole). Expecting Belly not to experience that is just misogynistic. Benito is the first person in her life who was a friend, who understood her, and also gave her the chance to be herself, beyond the grief of losing the person you loved. She gets to live beyond her sadness, and it is important for everyone to experience.

Belly Needs To Work on Her Confidence

People have constantly been hating Belly for how she “treats Conrad” and calling her names. Alleged Team Conrad members make it a point, time and again, to bring up the notion that “Belly does not deserve Conrad”. The concept of having to be deserving of love in itself needs to be studied, because if anything is clear in this simple teenage show, it's that Conrad has loved Belly since season 1. He always had, he always will. And more importantly, Belly has always just been a teenager who was in love with the football star whom she thought was out of her league. The image she created of Conrad in her mind has always been idealistic, and she never fathomed that he could ever love her. In other words, Belly, much like the alleged Conrad supporters, never felt she was deserving of his love (She was wrong, like they are). And that is the crux of the story.

Let Belly Feel Confident

The idea of being undeserving of love can only be broken when you learn to love and value yourself enough. Unfortunately, Belly has never had the opportunity to do that, before right now - in Paris. In the last two episodes, while we see Belly still trying to mend her way with Jeremiah, it is the first real time that she has found a place for herself, without the shadow of Jeremiah or Taylor, Laurel and her friends. There is a common misconception that you cannot love until you know how to love yourself. You definitely can. However, you definitely cannot trust that someone else can love you - 100% - until you do. And that is what Belly is doing in Paris. You might not understand it, but you do not get to judge her for it.

Let Us Call Out Misogyny for Misogyny

And finally - the last thing that everyone needs to remember before getting on the Belly Hate Train is actually a simple question - Would you hate it as much if a man did it? Do you hate Conrad for emotionally cheating with Belly? Do you hate Jeremiah for asking Belly to f&$k off when he was angry? If your answer to either is no - then I have sad news for you. You do not hate what Belly did because it was wrong. You just hate it because she was a woman who was audacious enough to do it. Check your misogyny.

The reason to not hate on a 21-year-old girl – who has been in the grief of losing a parental figure in her life who was so important to her that she fight for the house that holds her memories, fight for her son who is her best friend and fight with the world to just avoid feeling her loss and how it hurts her – is not that difficult to comprehend. And the fact that the most recent episode (The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Episode 10) ended with Belly not even remembering that it was Susannah’s death anniversary and her just living her life with a faint memory of the grief - is a very important step towards growth that was only possible because Belly was her messy self trying to heal the pain she has been carrying. And if all these reasons fail you, just remember - you cannot be Team Conrad if you are hating on Belly. Because Conrad could never have that.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2025 05:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).