MAKE “LIKE A GIRL” MEAN SOMETHING GREAT

You run like a girl.

You fight like a girl.
You throw like a girl.

Now imagine someone yelling that at you, how do you feel? Usually when we hear like a girl we associate that with something bad. Why does running, fighting, and throwing like a girl mean you can't do it, you’re not good at it, or you have to flail your arms and legs around? ALWAYS took a stand against saying “like a girl” as a bad thing. It shouldn’t matter whether we do something “like a girl” or “like a boy” we should make sure we just do it “like ourselves”.

In the ALWAYS commercial they asked many people to run, fight and throw like a girl. To no ones surprise, those tasks seemed like they were hardest thing to do. What was shocking was when young girls between the age of six and fourteen were asked the same thing. They all ran, fought, and threw their hardest.  One little girl even responded to “what does it mean to run like a girl” with “it means to run as fast as you can”. So “when did doing something like a girl become an insult”?

A little girl was asked, “Is like a girl a good thing”?

She responds, “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad thing…it sounds like a bad thing. It sounds like you’re trying to humiliate someone”.

 “A girl’s confidence plummets during puberty” ALWAYS states.

Put yourself in their shoes, you remember how confusing everything was. At that point in their life girls need all the confidence boosters they can get, they don’t need to be told they do something like a girl, as if it’s a bad thing. During the commercial a woman gave a motivational speech about doing something like a girl, “Keep doing it…if you’re still scoring…still being first, it doesn’t matter what they say. Yes I kick like a girl, swim like a girl and I wake up in the morning like a girl because I am a girl, and that’s not something I should be ashamed of.” Then at the end, all the women who had flailed their arms and legs around when asked to “run like a girl” had another chance to run like themselves.

ALWAYS made a couple more “like a girl” commercials.

·      Zoe, a14-year-old girl

·      Linden, a 9-year-old boy

·      Karlie, a 14-year-old girl

Zoe talked about her golfing completion that she won against a boy. She was excited like any golfer would be but then started to question it when she went to school the next day. Everyone told her opponent, “I can’t believe she beat you”, as if winning against a girl was something to be ashamed about. Why is it now that girls can’t feel victorious like boys?

That’s answered in the next commercial ALWAYS made with Linden. Young boys, including Linden, think that “throwing like a girl insinuates you’re bad…. and throwing like a boy is not an insult”, he said. It’s clear to see that when we’re young we’re taught that girls are inferior and it usually sticks with us the rest of our lives.

      One girl who proves that the stereotype didn’t stick with her is Karlie Harman. She’s the quarterback on her all boy football team and doesn’t make the phrase “like a girl” stop her. People on her team have told her she “throws like a girl” but she takes that as a complement because she “throws with power and dedication”. She is an inspiration to never let peoples’ words bring you down or make you want to give up. No matter what, boys and girls alike, we should always strive to be the best we can be, whether we do it “like a girl” or “like a boy” we should make sure we just do it “like ourselves”.