As a 21-year-old young woman, I can tell you right now, that when society tells me to do something "like a girl," it doesn't mean for me to do it like myself. It doesn't mean for me to do something the best I can, or do it better than someone else. Regardless of who you are, why is it that if you do something "like a girl," you do not do it well, you do not do it right, or you do not do it with strength?
You may have seen the ad on television for the “Like A Girl" campaign. The campaign is about changing the negative meaning of the phrase “like a girl" to a more positive one. In the ad, girls of many different ages are asked what it means to them to do something like a girl. A girl's confidence plummets after puberty, as shown in this ad. The younger girls, before puberty, were between the ages of five and thirteen. When they were asked to do something “like a girl," it meant for them to do it the best they can. However, the girls older than thirteen thought it meant to do something in a negative, stereotypical way that girls are expected to do things; for example, flailing your arms when running, worrying about your hair getting messed up, or not being able to do something as simple as throwing a ball.
Everyone has something they are passionate about, and something they are good at: for me, it's snow skiing. It's definitely odd to hear a Floridian, especially someone like me who has lived in Florida their whole life, to say that their favorite sport is skiing, or more specifically, slalom skiing. However, I have been skiing every year since the young age of five with my family.
Since I was young, I have skied in NASTAR, which is short for National Standard Race. It is the world's largest ski and snowboard race program. It tests your agility, or the ability to be graceful and fast, as a skier or snowboarder. Your age, weight, and time all determine if you receive a bronze, silver, or gold medal.
I am so grateful that I was able to gain happiness and self-confidence through skiing. In middle school and high school, I never had something at school that was my sport. I couldn't run track because I was too slow, and I didn't play any team sports. I experienced first hand the lack of self confidence young girls have when it comes to being athletic. But when I went out west to Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming with my family, I had a sport, and I was good at it.
I competed in my first race in Vail, Colorado, when I was eight years old; I won the bronze medal. The following two years I continued racing, and won a silver medal in Breckenridge, Colorado. Finally, a few years later, I won my first gold medal in Park City, Utah. I saw my family cheering on the sidelines and there was no feeling comparable.
I'm sure everyone knows that there is a stigma against women in sports. Participation in the Ancient Olympic games was limited to male athletes only. Even in the early years of the modern Olympics, women were not well represented. Women participated for the first time at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games
The phrase, “like a girl," should not be an insult, because there are many athletically talented women. Women should not feel inferior. I think that every girl should feel powerful and strong, just like I do when I get on the mountain to ski.
To conclude, I will leave you with this. A close family friend of mine has gone skiing with me for many years, and he and I have an ongoing competition of who is a faster skier. He gets so angry that I ski faster than him, simply because he is being defeated by a girl. So yes, I do ski like a girl. Because I am one.
