“When you grow up a girl, the world tells you the things that you are supposed to be: emotional, loving, beautiful, wanted. And then when you are those things, the world tells you they are inferior: illogical, weak, vain, empty.” Stevie Nicks
Being a woman in this society is not easy. We were raised differently than men. We have to work twice as hard as men if we ever want to be known for the work we have accomplished. We have fought long and hard for our rights as citizens just to vote. Still, today, we struggle with unequal pay and unequal opportunities in the workforce. The #GrowingUpAGirl is a movement that was created so people could realize what women go through. Some issues expressed in the movement are less extreme but still relevant in the issues against women. Every woman has experienced at lest one of the issues that attempt to dehumanize women.
Girls are told to "sit like a lady" with our knees together, thighs pressed and ankles are best crossed. It's as if a woman's legs are slightly parted they are allowing peepers to look and unwelcome guests to enter.
In the classroom student must ask to use the restroom. Girls are always countered with the question "Why do you need your bag?" Society has already created the stigma that periods/tampons/pads are dirty and should be kept a secret. Obviously, to do so, women must hide those things. It must be obvious by now why I need my bag. Stop asking.
Then there is, "your bra strap is showing." Oh, no -- the product society has pressured and forced me to wear is showing. Should I be burned at the stake? I don't have to wear the bra if the strap is so distracting. Tell me something more important like how to do taxes or change the oil in my car. I don't care about my bra strap showing.
The best one (sarcasm) is, "Are you on your period?" when girls are annoyed, angry, or anything but happy, smiley, or silent. We are allowed to express our opinions whenever we want. Just because you want to silence women does not mean they are on their period when they speak.
Those are only the less extreme example of issues within society. They are used often to silence, degrade, and dehumanize women. The extreme issues are worse as they express the true horror and fear of being a girl.
To begin, girls are expected to save themselves for marriage and their husband. If a woman is not a virgin before she is married then her value has decreased. If men don't have to save themselves for marriage then neither should women. Women should not be valued on having sex before or after marriage.
Before given a license to drive, girls are given pepper spray "just in case." We are taught how to hold our keys as weapons, park in high lit areas, and stay in highly public places. Women are taught to always be prepared because at any moment they could be the victim.
Society has made it hard for women to out at night because "you're a girl and it's dangerous" and we're likely to be raped and murdered. Girls are taught that it is their fault if someone touches them without their consent. We must be careful what we wear, how much we drink, where we go, and who we speak to. Girls live in constant fear or strangers, family and friends. We can't trust anyone because the people who hurt us are most often someone we know.
Then the worst fear of all: going to college because we will be sexually assaulted. Not only that but our rapist will more likely get expelled for plagiarism than for assaulting us. Anything we do or day will be shoved under the rug to be forgotten. Their education or athletic career is made more important than our lives and safety.
Women should not have to live in fear. Women should not have to be the victim. Girls lives matter. Women's lives matter. We are human, we exist and we will not be silenced. #GrowingUpAGirl.
