Article by: Lisa Paredes
Always’ #LikeAGirl commercial, launched June 2014, got to change the expression “like a girl” and view it as a statement of empowerment and accomplishment.
The original commercial featured men and women being asked to engage in different activities “like a girl”. The results show how men and women believed executing anything like a girl displayed weakness and uselessness. Then, when younger girls were asked to do these same activities the results were completely different, they perform them as themselves. The younger girls didn’t understand why they were being asked to act like something they already were. So at what age does the term “like a girl” become stereotypically ridiculed?
When girls reach puberty, between 10 and 12, we get our first period and our bodies start to change. It’s a difficult time in every woman’s life, a time of change and uncertainty. Most girls have to start acting more grown up, being more aware of their bodies and more responsible even if they don’t feel ready. It’s a time of feeling lonely and a little bit ashamed because not every girl gets to that point at the same time. It’s when we first feel truly as girls but are confused by it. It’s the moment boys start to notice it as well and the comments “you run like a girl”, “you kick like a girl”, “you fight like a girl” start coming up. Girls at that age, being already in a situation where they are not confident, start feeling humiliated by the fact of being girls. These comments are seen as insults instead of the beautiful simple truth of their meaning.
Always’ campaign #LikeAgirl wanted to show all these young girls that there is nothing to be ashamed of when being called a girl because we ARE girls and that’s the only way we want to do everything. The campaign had such an impact that this year they launched a second commercial depicting strong and powerful girls of all ages performing like winners on their chosen fields. With this campaign, Always changed the negative connotation to a positive one of the term doing something “like a girl”.
This is only one example of several gender discrimination expressions we find in our languages. On the original video a little boy doesn’t seem to realize he is insulting girls with his demonstration and doesn’t have that intention. This type of discrimination doesn’t come from a place of hate and doesn’t have the intention to hurt girls but it unconsciously does. Always got people to see the importance of being more aware of how we talk and find a way to empower girls instead of degrading them in our daily conversations.
Join all these successful and empowered women who are winning at life #LikeAGirl!
Source: here
