I don’t really know when it started, but at some point in high school the phrase, “I’m just a girl,” integrated itself into my vernacular. I used it as a snappy excuse for everything. No joke, I consistently used this phrase for at least 3 years. All the while, considering myself a strong feminist, attempting to do what I could to support women’s rights and break the very gender stereotypes I was verbally perpetuating. I never thought anything of it, really, it was just something mildly funny that I’d say.
What started as a silly phrase quickly turned into my excuse to accept my own laziness, forgetfulness, and the aspects of my persona that I don’t like, all while attesting them as faults of my female anatomy. I managed to allow my subconscious to associate being “just a girl” with inadequacy; I joked myself into giving the word “girl” a negative connotation.
I didn’t think about the effect my words had on my view of who I am as a human woman.
“I’m just a girl, I can’t do that.”
“She’s just a girl, you can’t expect her to do that.”
“We’re just girls, how can you expect that of us?”
Now, beyond my own subconscious word association, the real damning word here is not “girl” it is “just.” That word suggests that I am only one thing (in this case, a girl)--that I cannot manage to stand for multiple causes, make more than one effort, perform well in more than one subject. Now, as the amazing women of this era and every era have continuously proven, being a girl is pretty dang cool. The girls in my life have inspired me to reach beyond the limits this society places on me. Every single day girls make scientific discoveries and create fantastic art and save lives and prove time and time again that being a girl has no correlation to the potential you possess. I firmly believe that anyone can do anything, it’s just a matter of whether they want to put in the effort to try.
Obviously, I've tried my very best to eliminate the phrase,"I'm just a girl," from my lingo. If only to remind myself that I don’t have to be just a girl; girls are not just anything. We are smart, funny, determined, and more than willing to accept the challenges we face...because we have no other choice. I hope that one day society will get to the point when the descriptor of “girl” does not hold me back--whether it be myself or others doing the holding. I am no better and no worse for being a female.
I am a person, I am me, and I am more than capable.
