Everybody has “those days.” For me, as a girl in today’s political climate and stereotype-heavy atmosphere, “those days” have been the ones where, for lack of a better term, the patriarchy is getting me down. Maybe you’re kind of depressed by all the stuff you are seeing on the news. Maybe your family doesn’t support you writing for a feminist publication. Or maybe the girls you see in magazines and on T.V. don’t look like you, and it’s making you feel less than. No matter what the problem is, this is a list of videos for those days.
1. Emma Watson’s #HeforShe Speech at the UN
This speech is epic. It highlights how feminism is important for both women AND men, and how gender stereotypes don’t help anyone in society today. It is made even more epic by the fact that it is set to the Inception soundtrack. Plus it’s Emma Watson, and Emma Watson is bae, so you’re welcome.
2. ESPN’s “Why I Play”
I watched this video in the airport going home for Spring Break and I might have cried a little. This video is a montage of real women in sports, everyone from recreational swimmers to teenaged girls to Olympic athletes, set to a spoken word piece about what it means to be a woman in sports today. It’s a lot of badass in two and a half minutes.
3. Inspirational Women video
J.K. Rowling. Oprah. Michelle Obama. Margaret Thatcher. Hillary Clinton. What do all these women have in common? They are all badass as f*ck. They are also all included in this inspirational montage, so sit down and get ready to be inspired.
4. Always “Like A Girl”
This ad by the well-known period product company talks about what it really means to do something “like a girl”, and how that perception changes as girls go through puberty. Let’s just say it will make you think twice next time someone tells you to run like a girl.
5. Buzzfeed’s “I am not that girl.”
This one is especially good for those times when you are sick and tired of being looked down upon for not being the “right” kind of girl. BuzzFeed hits the nail on the head as it shows what it’s like to be a girl in a world where your worth seems to hinge upon your ability to put on makeup and how far apart your thighs are.
6. The Period Poem
Dominique Christina absolutely slays with her response to a boy tweeting about periods. She isn’t afraid to tell it how it is, especially when it comes to seeing having a period as a strength, not something gross to hide. She also threw her daughter a period party. If that’s not an awesome mom, I don’t know what is.
7. Heels
This one speaks to me on a personal level. As a fellow tall girl with a love for stilettos, I am SO here for Imani Cezanne coming at men who can’t handle when a tall girl wears heels. Preach, girl, preach.
I hope that watching one or all of these videos gave you some inspiration that made you ready to go out there and kick some ass. Who run the world? Girls (Duh).
Image Credit: Featured Image, 1, 2, 3