When Beyoncé announced her pregnancy with twins, I was mildly interested. I’m not a big Bey fan. I think she’s an amazing performer and I like some songs, but I’m not blown away by her.

I’m not a fan of most celebrities. I like a lot of people’s work, but they aren’t my faves.

Anyhow, when Beyoncé released her pregnancy photo to the world, I chuckled. I hated it. I hated it. Did I say hated it? I thought it was over the top and it just didn’t showcase her beauty. And I said as much.

I made a joke but ultimately congratulated Bey and Jay–like they would ever see my Facebook post.

Whew lord.

People were unimpressed with me and my opinion. I mean, some people were unimpressed with me.

In a Facebook group I was in, a few people didn’t like the photo and said so. Folks started calling people who didn’t like it “haters”.

So, someone can’t like something without being considered a hater?

Fast-forward to this weekend. Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in a fairytale wedding. While I think Meghan is beautiful and has great sense of style, I was underwhelmed by her dress. I felt that it needed to be tailored a bit better and I would have liked to have seen her wear a necklace or a thin, embellished belt. I wasn’t fussy with her hair…but I thought that she looked lovely, if not a bit plain.

I went onto Facebook and read some comments about the wedding and the dress, specifically. I was surprised by what I read. People were legit offended that others didn’t like Meghan’s dress.

Like really upset.

Like they designed the dress. Like Meghan is their BFF and they helped her pick the dress. One woman went as far as to say that those of us who didn’t like the dress were focusing on the wrong things–no one should comment on the dress aside to say it was perfection–and were single because we were all “bitter Betties.”

Really? Steupse.

I wrote:

I don’t know why people think you cannot speak on a wedding dress without being a hater. I loved the veil and headpiece. I thought the dress was plain. I would have loved to see something at her neck–pearls or diamonds. Simple, yet elegant. Also, there aren’t just absolutes. She’s either skin out in a bodycon dress or wearing a plain Jane couture dress. There is a lot in-between.

A wedding that is broadcast globally for 7 hours is going to have people talking. People are allowed to not like something without being bitter.

People take it too far. No one is talking hard about Meghan’s character or personality. I’m sure that she is a lovely person…but if you didn’t like the dress, that doesn’t mean you dislike her.

Another example. My former boyfriend, Idris Elba’s fiancée, Sabrina Dhowre, wore Gucci down to the socks, well, heels to Meghan and Harry’s wedding. I thought her makeup, hair and fascinator looked great. The dress? Not so much. Supposedly, a number of people had been criticizing her outfit and saying that it wasn’t appropriate for the occasion. On Instagram, Idris posted that Sabrina looked amazing in her dress (isn’t he wonderful?).

One commenter said Sabrina looked great, but the dress was inappropriate.

Another commenter said the first commenter was a cow.

Someone is a cow because they commented that they didn’t like a dress?

People, we need to pull our lives together. Just because someone says something negative about your fave doesn’t mean you need to take it personally. I don’t know Beyoncé, Meghan or Sabrina. I will probably never meet them. Just because I don’t like something that they’ve worn, their hairstyle or even a song or something that they’ve said or done, it doesn’t mean I’m bad minded, bitter or a hater. It means I have an opinion.

BTW, can we just cancel the word ‘hater’? Everyone is a so-called hater when they disagree about something.

We can all disagree without being disagreeable.