Like A Girl

I've realized I'm a huge contradiction.

For example.  I hate the stereotype that every southern girl wears pearls with everything (I love pearls.  My nickname is Pearl. But really? Pearls with your workout clothes? A little too much, sweetie.) I hate the stereotype that southern girls love monograms.  That if you're southern, you have to like big trucks and wear camo and go fishin' and huntin' and ask your boyfriend to go muddin'.  Or whatever.

Not that I'm knocking girls who do any of the above activities.  If you like them, go for them! And don't let anyone tell you you can't! But personally, the thought of balls flying toward my face or wild animals being close to me terrify me.  And I absolutely can't even stand to think about what it would be like to have to actually shoot a living, breathing animal.  Too sad.

But.  I basically live the stereotype that girls are more delicate than boys and like to look pretty and stay clean and don't really play sports.  And eat chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate.

There's an ad/PSA/whatever it is floating around facebook. It's impossible to miss.

It's basically talking about how the phrase "like a girl" is demeaning to women, especially when connected to things like sports.

But the thing is, doing something like a girl isn't a bad thing.  We have let its meaning change to something completely different than what it should be.

Embarrassing story: My junior year of band I switched over from playing flute to pit.  Every day at the beginning of percussion camp, we would run around one of the parking lots. Well. One day I was running super late so I just rolled out of bed and left.  I forgot something very important: my bra.

Have you ever seen a T-Rex running? The entire drum line and pit did that day.

Some might even say I was running like a girl. In fact, in the video, one girl's demonstration of running "like a girl" is pretty much the same way I was running.

The thing is, I see no problem being told if I'm doing something "like a girl." I am a girl.  That doesn't mean I have a lesser value than a man.  It simply means I have different body parts. Sure, I can't toss a football or kick a soccer ball the same way guys can, but I'm also not passionate about sports.  In fact, I kind of relate to Amber in the movie Clueless: "Ms. Stoeger, my plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my face"

(Disclaimer: No, I have not ever had plastic surgery. I'm just naturally perfect! *Hair Flip*)

So girls, maybe instead of being offended when someone calls us a girl, we should say thank you and be glad instead that we didn't get mistaken for a man.  (I think if that ever happened, I would have to go invest in a new wardrobe of bras and lipsticks.  Maybe even some more skirts.)

And guys, maybe instead of telling girls they're doing something "like a girl" as a form of an insult, you should appreciate that they are girls. After all, you're going to marry one of us one day.  And then you'll be glad you have a woman who does things like one- even making sandwiches.

And maybe once we realize that girls are powerful too, the phrase "like a girl" will go from having a negative connotation to a positive one.  After all, it's not the power of the curse, it's the power we give the curse.  Thank you, wise little boy from Penelope!

I think I'll paint my nails now.


PS: If you somehow haven't seen the video. here's the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs&feature=kp

-I just want to make it clear that I believe women and men are equals.  I don't under any circumstances believe that women need to oppressed or told they can't do things right.  I'm impressed when I see women in power, whether in government or work and especially sports.  Go you!-