https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhB3l1gCz2E
Always launched a powerful campaign this past summer to redefine the expression "like a girl". In the first video a group of males and females that were past the stages of puberty were asked what it meant to preform an action "like a girl". The responses were a range of weak physical abilities and performances that struck viewers as lesser than any normal action. When asked, even the women ran slow, worries about their hair, and threw a ball half-heartedly. Younger girls were then asked the same question about what it meant to do things "like a girl". Their actions were bold and powerful. Their actions measured up to everything that they were capable of.
The advertisement hits at a very popular stereotype in our society, that girls are inferior. The expression "like a girl" is used very often in stages of puberty among adolescents. The video also makes a good point that this expression is often used without realizing it is insulting and could have negative effects on young women that hear it being used. The second advertisement highlights these feelings that girls often feel when they hear this phrase; weak, incapable, and below others. One young girl in the video felt that girls "cannot be brave and aren't capable of rescuing anyone". This is almost heartbreaking to hear and personally I want to look her in the eyes and tell her that she is capable of anything that she sets her mind to, because she is.
As a society, this phrase needs to be erased from our vocabulary. It is a very ignorant thing to say and makes no logical sense when you think about it. Girls grow to be very powerful women capable of anything a man can do. Sure, men are typically more athletic thanks to evolution but so what? Always stated it best when they said, "why can't running like a girl mean winning the race?" Being a girl is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. As people, we are far more than a gender definition that is false, we are ourselves. These ads are vocalizing a very important message that everyone needs to embrace; gender stereotypes are absurd and harmful to the growing individuals of our society. If the powerful women of today gave up because they couldn't preform as well as men, where would we be today? As a woman, as an athlete, as a student; I can say that I am extremely proud to live my life "like a girl".
I disagree with you when you say the phrase “like a girl” needs to be removed from society. I think a better way to deal with this is to change the intent of the phrase to something more positive. I do agree with some of the points you make like just because genetics makes the average man more physically able than the average woman doesn’t mean woman are inferior. Just like men, woman possess qualities that men lack but because of how media/ society portrays the advantages of men on a pedestal, women naturally feel as if they are constantly lacking and not looking at what they are packing. Not being a woman and not really being able to fully understand how they feel, I think of it as if all my life I was told “That’s just like Leslie” whenever I came up short I would eventually feel discouraged. I believe because society uses the phrase “like a girl” when women fall short of something they eventually start to feel discourage especially at a young age. For example a middle school girl should not feel like just because she cannot naturally throw a football as far as boys in her class she is inferior. Just like a middle school boy should not feel inferior or teased because a girl throws a football further than him. Rather both need to understand that if they practice and focus on what they want to be good at than they can achieve whatever they want through time and development.
ReplyDelete