My home videos show little girls in pink tutus and leotards, prancing around and following the instructor’s every move. If you pan out the camera, then you will find me...rolling around on the floor, not giving a flying fudge what anyone else was doing. I was always marching to the beat of my own drum. I was anything but the "ideal" little girl who was supposed to love pink and glitter, dream of being a ballerina, and want to wear anything with sparkles.
Verizon has recently launched a new campaign entitled "Inspire Her Mind." This one-minute video has a very powerful message to all people, especially young girls.
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How many times was I told growing up that I should or shouldn’t be doing something because it's "not what girls do"?
Don’t touch that bug! Careful you don’t mess up your new shoes! You have to wear a dress to church. We’re going shopping; only the boys go to the races. Girls wear skirts and boys wear pants-- that's the just the way the school dress code is.
The world is full of pre-determined ideals for genders that are ingrained into us from the start. The things we can and can’t do, how we are supposed to dress and act, that a knight in shining armor will save us from all of our problems.
When a family announces the birth of a baby girl, what are the first things you think of for gift ideas? Something pink, for sure. That’s a given. Something with princesses or maybe ballerinas, lacey flowers with baby's breath, and cute dresses and baby dolls. As she progresses in age, every little girl's room should have a closet full of princess dresses.
Let's transition to elementary school, when Barbie sets high standards on what a woman should look and dress like. I remember being ridiculed for not being as skinny as the other girls. In fourth grade, I was already worried about how I looked when I should have been worrying about just being a kid. There was too much pressure from the outside world and from the shows we watched on TV that told me what a girl was "supposed to be like," and I felt like I didn't fit the mold.
It wasn't just Barbie setting a gender stereotype either, though. What about all of those classic Disney tales? Here comes Prince Charming riding in on a white horse to save the damsel in distress. Again. Even jump rope rhymes impressed certain attributes onto us at such a young age.
"Grace, Grace, dressed in lace. Went upstairs to powder her face. How many boxes did it take? One, Two, Three, Four..."
“Cinderella, dressed in yella went downstairs to kiss her fella, how many kisses did she give? One, Two, Three….”
When high school arrives, popularity is everything. MTV's reality shows have brainwashed us into that mindset. Your claim-to-fame can be on your beauty and friends alone. So, of course, looks matter. Who your family is matters. What your hobbies are matter. Labels matter.
Being smart? You're a nerd. Using your brain in class? You're the teacher's pet. Don't wear a size double zero? You're a whale. You don't have real experience with boys? You're a prude. Shorts are too short? You must be a slut.
There are all sorts of stereotypes surrounding young girls, and these stereotypes play a negative role on most young women. Studies have shown that confidence drops from 72 percent down to 55 percent between middle school and high school.
Recently, an increasingly popular social media trend is pointing out all of the flaws in gender stereotyping. #GrowingUpAGirl has been one of the most popular trending hashtags on Twitter. Though some tweets may seem humorous, you need to look past the face of the hashtag. There is a much deeper message about what it really means growing up in a world full of stereotypes.
Girls need to grow up with more confidence. The world needs to stop holding such stereotypical ideals for us or for anyone on that matter. Men don't have to be strong and be the hero of the story. Women can go to war and protect themselves just as well as a man can. Boys can take dance classes, and girls can take karate.
It shouldn't matter what we do as long as we are doing something that we love. Let us be who we were meant to be, and stop placing beauty, size, and style over what really matters.
#GrowingUp should mean growing up confident, happy, and not under any pre-conceived notions. We really can do anything that we set our minds to.
