How many times have someone told you that you “run like a girl, hit like a girl, swing like a girl, throw like a girl…“? How did that make you feel? What impact did that have on you? Did it motivate you?
Growing up, girls don’t feel inadequate. They run, they play sports, they play games and most importantly, girls are on the equal footing with boys. More often than not, they are even better at sports and games than boys. But then the puberty hits. The girls start to feel vulnerable. They start to see their bodies change and with them, their images of themselves and the world around them. Their confidence plummets because they start to understand that the society has different norms for boys and different norms for girls. All of a sudden, games they played together when they were young are no longer there. Now, when they try to play together, boys tell them that they do things like a girl – all of a sudden, being a girl feels as not being good enough anymore.
Does this sound familiar to you?
Hitting 30s, I know now that being a girl is not bad. Quite contrary, it is something to be proud of. We are made strong because we need to survive what society throws at us much earlier than boys. But how long did it take you to come to that understanding? Months? Years?
The company “Always” started the awareness campaign to highlight the fact that girls are made inferior in the eyes of the public for the sole reason of being girls. They highlight the astonishing statistics that says:
7 out of 10 girls in puberty feel as if they shouldn’t play sports because they are girls!
Sports is critical for everyone as a confidence builder. Playing sports makes all of us feel stronger – be stronger – and prepares us to respond to challenges and take on the world.
So why do we let society paint this picture? We have prime examples of women like Serena Williams kicking butts in the sports world and we still keep to the same old prejudices – that we are inferior. I’d love to see a man take on Serena or Ronda Rousey or any other female champ and walk away unscathed!
Sport is an important confidence builder – ESPECIALLY for the women. And we, women, have to do something – TOGETHER – to show to the girls younger than us that dropping out of sports is NOT the way.
So next time you hear things like: you play like a girl, you hit like a girl… – hit with all your might and show the world what it means to be a girl! Don’t stop doing what you love just because you are told you are not good enough. Know that this is just one of the many obstacles on your way and that the true fighter in you should never back down in the face of adversity. Inspire other girls around you to do the same because You have gone through this too. Push them to see that being a girl is nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it is a role we should all proudly wear!