Have you ever noticed that girls go to the bathroom together? That they wear a lot of makeup? That it's really easy to make an overarching stereotype about everything girls do and all the ways they act? Well, here are 14 "just girly things" that actually have some truth to them.
1. Never wanting to travel alone.
OMG, why can't girls ever be independent? They can't even go to the bathroom by themselves! As it turns out, even "da club" can be a dangerous world for women to navigate alone. You never know who's going to try to approach you, so it doesn't hurt to have some reinforcement.
2. Not happy? Blame your hormones!
Are you feeling sad? It's probably PMS. Mad? PMS. Anything besides happy? Obviously your emotions are a direct result of a hormone imbalance! It's too unbelievable to think that external factors could be causing you to feel emotions. Don't try to tell people the truth; they won't believe you anyway.
3. The gender wage gap.
There are lots of numbers floating around the Internet reflecting how women are frequently paid less than men for doing equal work. Some people like to argue that women are paid less because they choose to work lower-paying jobs, but studies show that as women begin to enter male-dominated fields, the average pay drops.
4. Bleeding all over everything.
It happens to the best of us sometimes. You're exhausted after a long day of continuously bleeding. You think that you're prepared to take on the night ahead. But next thing you know, it's morning and you're afraid to get up because your pretty white sheets miraculously transformed into the Japanese flag over night. Amazing.
5. Feigning lesbianism.
If a boy you're not interested in comes up to you in "da club," you could tell just tell him so. But your words don't matter much, so it's easier to show him you're not interested. How do you do that? Well, you could kick him in the balls if he tries to touch you, or your best friend could just pretend she's your girlfriend. It's easier for men to understand that you don't want them if they think you belong to someone else. The type that you're trying to avoid interaction with when you go out tend to respect ownership more than it does women.
6. Being told to smile.
For some reason, strange men love to tell random women to smile. If you must know, I'm not smiling because I really, really don't want to interact with you.
7. Justifying your interests.
If you like Starbucks, makeup and Tumblr, you're basic. If you like video games and sports, you're fake or trying too hard. If you're a girl and you like anything, you're going to be thrown into a stereotype.
8. Apologizing.
"I'm sorry, I really don't want to overstep my boundaries here, but I read some articles from some credible — uh, male — sources, and they were saying that actually, if you could believe it, the world might actually be round! I don't know, I'm just telling you what I read, but it could be something to consider. Sorry, I just thought that was interesting."
9. Starting your period during sex.
It's embarrassing, but it happens, and there's actually a reason why.
10. Being assumed to be a secretary.
Walking into an office, people often assume that a woman has a lower rank than she actually does. Maybe people think that a woman is a secretary rather than a boss because only 4 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs. After reading a New York Times article written by woman who used to work on Wall Street, I'm surprised any woman would want to work in that environment at all.
11. Street harassment.
Over winter break, I was walking from my parking spot down the block to the UPS store so I could mail back a textbook that I had rented online. In the three minutes it took me to get from my car to the store, a stranger took it upon himself to chat me up and ask for my number. This is especially disconcerting since I am frequently mistaken for a 15-year-old.
#StopApproachingStrangeWomenWhileTheyreTryingToRunErrands2016
12. Being unable to be a person because your cramps are too bad.
In high school, I had a friend who would miss a day of school at least every other month because her cramps were so bad. I have some friends who can hardly get out of bed when their time of the month rolls around. The bleeding is the least of the issue when it comes to periods. The real problem is the physical pain that accompanies it.
13. Being afraid to walk home alone.
Maybe if the rapist/murderer lurking in the 2 a.m. post-club shadows hears me talking on the phone, he'll think that there are people in the world who care about me, so he won't take the risk of raping/murdering me.
14. This.
When I googled "just girly things meme," what showed up was pages on pages of parodies. The meme started as a cheesy yet totally harmless way for females to unite in common interests. Even if you don't personally relate to "writing his name all over your notebook" or "wanting to become a Victoria's Secret Angel," that doesn't mean you have the right to make fun of it or put other girls down for liking these things.
The most "girly thing" out there, the one thing that every girl can hands down relate to, is just being a human being. Every girl has unique interests, personal struggles and inner ambitions. Once everyone starts to see females as real people and not just pockets of stereotypes that can be boiled down to a smiling girl in a heavily over-edited picture, the world will become a better place for all.
