Too loud, too fat, too weird, too optimistic, too aggressive, too skinny. All of these are things that women hear daily. Whether it be the voices in their own head or people verbally telling them, negative thoughts occur throughout every woman's mind. Why? And why have we let this continue for so long?
I grew up watching all of the early 2000s chick flicks/romantic comedies. They were my break away from the real world; I got to step into the world of Elle Woods, when she proved everyone wrong and kicked butt at Harvard Law; into the world of Anna Coleman, when a fortune cookie forced her to switch bodies with her mom; into the world of Viola, when she transformed into her brother Sebastian just to play men's soccer; into the world of Sam Montgomery, when she tragically lost her dad & her freedom, but still managed to get the happy ending we all want.
All of these movies are heroine led and when looked at closely, have feminist aspects. In "Freaky Friday", Anna Coleman taught us that it's okay to dress like a punk rockstar, to be in a rock band as a girl, and to not want to be friends with the "popular" girl. In "She's The Man", we had to watch Viola literally transform into her brother just to prove that women are good enough (and that we don't have to like debutante balls). In "Sydney White", Sydney taught us that a rating system should never determine the rank of anyone, that it is okay for your closest friends to be known as the nerds, and that you don't have to look like the perfect "sorority girl" to fit in in college. Elle Woods, in "Legally Blonde", defied all of the odds that were against her and excelled amazingly at Harvard Law.
Majority of women my age grew up watching these films, watching these characters prove that women rule, that we all need to be nicer to one another, but here we are - still judging one another, still having low self confidence, and still concerned about what people think of us. When we see other women out at the bar, why do most of us immediately judge what she's wearing, or who she's talking to, or how she did her hair? Why does any of that concern us? Instead of judging someone right when they walk into a room, we should be broadening our horizons and perhaps introducing ourselves -- you never know if its your next best friend walking in.
