"You're a girl, you can't do that." "You throw like a girl." We hear it all to often, the phrase "Like a girl" is used to degrade someone of their physical, or mental ability, but why? When did doing something like a girl become a bad thing? Society has portrayed women as objects rather than humans for as long as anyone can remember, women today are still far behind in society making seventy-eight cents to every mans dollar.
This wave of oppression has gone on for too long, and just recently has it become a public movement to end this gap,especially with the popularity of the feminist movement coming into light, after being kept under the rug for so many years. The ways we bring down young girls and older women alike are just tragic not only are we degrading their self esteem but we are degrading their self-worth.
Young girls hear "You throw like a girl," and instantly think girls are powerless, that they were not meant to throw or be involved in anything other than parading around looking for someone to find interest in them. Self-esteem especially in young teens is known to plummet because of not only puberty but the pressure of their friends, family, and especially society. Well, enough it enough. It is time we change the phrase "like a girl" from having a negative connotation to having a positive connotation brought along with it.
"It's just a phrase, get over it." I'll get over it when people stop using it as a derogatory phrase and start using it as a way to empower others. Girls are powerful, they are strong so why use something as simple as a phrase to insult someone for not being perfect in something. Campaigns have sprung out across the U.S. recently about changing the stigma that goes with the phrase "Like a girl."
Recently, Always the feminine care product company, had a group of young ladies and young men come in and demonstrate how to run like a girl, how to throw like a girl and how to fight like a girl. What happened was astonishing, young women were flailing their bodies a throwing their hands in awkward motions to represent what it is like to "fight like a girl." On the other hand the younger girls put on their toughest faces and used all their might to swing their fist and make sure they won the imaginary fight.
This is just an example of what happens to a girls self confidence when society degrades her for being a girl, a un chosen genetic makeup in which it defines how they are perceived to the world. Maybe it's time to end the barrier, and show older girls/women that being a girl doesn't mean you are inferior and powerless.
The truth is yes, I do run, fight, and throw like a girl, because guess what, I am one, and I am proud to be a girl! We as humans need to start teaching young girls that doing something "like a girl" isn't a bad thing, it's an awesome thing! Why waste time letting others bring you down for being a certain gender and show them just how empowering and captivating women and girls are.
It's time to stop the stigma surrounding the phrase "like a girl," and its time to make the phrase a powerful, captivating expression to motivate someone to try their best and never give up, because in the end that's what doing something "like a girl" really is all about.
