Rewrite the Rules of Doing It Like A Girl

We’ve all heard what seems to be the ultimate insult: “You run like a girl!” It is the one thing that can really get a girl’s blood boiling. However, my question is, why is being a girl a bad thing? Why is doing something like a girl an insult and why is it that every time someone is caught crying, the natural response is “you’re crying like a girl”? Who can remember watching the oh so famous movie She’s The Man, when the soccer coach casually says “Girls aren’t as fast as boys…or strong…or athletic. This is not me talking its scientific fact. Girls can’t beat boys.”? I know there was a universal feeling among all women- that all too familiar feeling of self-doubt.

 

 

Here’s the thing: young girls are conditioned to believe they are not as strong as the boys from a young age.  You might have seen the Always #LikeAGirl Superbowl commercial, where they pose the question “What does it mean to do something like a girl?” The commercial featured both boys and girls, aging from pre-school to young adult. Their responses are enough to see at one point in time a girl’s self confidence plummets. Take a look for yourself!

 

 

Let me take you back to the early stages of puberty, whether you want to or not. The horrifying days of middle parts, slicked back pony tails, and braces; it’s a weird and awkward time when you are trying to figure things out about yourself and start that transformation from awkward young pre-teen to cool teen. You try to be one of the boys at recess and compete side by side in kickball with them, or play video games after school and to you, it feels as if there’s nothing different about you…and that’s because THERE’S NOT! I know we all can remember hearing throughout our entire childhood, “you run like a girl”, “you cry like a girl” or “you hit like a girl”, it made us think that being a girl automatically meant that we were weaker and unable to do what boys can do. Along with the overwhelming pressures and tough expectations from today’s society, these “harmless” expressions are just the beginning of what can ruin a girl’s self esteem at a very young age. That’s why I encourage all of you to “rewrite the rules” of doing it like a girl; stand up and encourage young girls to see themselves as strong & confident girls who can do anything that they want to regardless of the fact they are a female and never be ashamed to do things like a girl. Stand up for your confidence, and stand up for the next generations’ confidence. 

 

 

So next time someone says, “You kick like a girl!” …you can proudly say “You mean like the women’s FIFA World Player of the Year, Mia Hamm?”

“You hit like a girl!”….”You mean like the greatest female tennis player in history, Venus Williams?”

“You run like a girl!”…”You mean like 3 time Olympic Track & Field medalist, Allyson Felix?”

Ladies, we should be honored to be hear someone say “you do (insert insult here) like a girl” because in reality, doing it like a girl means winning.