"I'm not like other girls."
This is a phrase that we have all heard and/or said at some point in our lives. I am unique, I am different, I am not your typical girl. But so what if you are?
This idea that to be perceived as an "average" girl is wrong or distasteful has wandered into the heads of women all around the world. This urge to be anything other than a usual female has sparked several questions in my mind.
For one, what even is an average girl?
As far as I'm concerned, every person is different than the one next to them. There is no true normal person out there. Each and every one of us has our own differences and quirks.
So given that, what do we mean when we say that we aren't your typical woman?
Do we mean that we don't get our nails done once a week, that we enjoy things other than shopping, that our favorite color isn't pink? Yes. We mean all of that and more.
When a woman says that she "isn't like other girls," she's really saying, "don't stick me inside of this box that the world has made for me." We are allowed to like sports, to be smart, and we are allowed to strive for more.
An average woman doesn't exist. We can enjoy one thing that the world has said we should, and another that it says is outside of our wheelhouse. We can enjoy wearing makeup and still go to baseball games on Sundays.
Each of us is a unique and wonderful combination of attributes and interests unlike the one next to us, but that doesn't meant that there is something wrong with liking the things that women are told to like.
So why the phrase, why don't we just enjoy what we enjoy without excuses?
The answer is because society has built a wall around our personalities. Speaking strictly of American society, my entire life it has told me that I should cover up, but not too much. That I should be sweet, but not vulnerable. That I should be strong, but not bossy.
We have all been poked and prodded in an attempt to mold us into society's idea of a perfect or ideal woman.
These types of phrases slip out because we feel the need to justify liking things that society says we aren't supposed to and because we are simultaneously afraid of conforming to what they've told us to be.
By continuing to say these phrases we are letting the proverbial 'them' win. As we perpetuate these ideas that there is in fact a typical and normal woman, we only prolong the fight to escape that box.
Long story short; women are awesome so don't apologize for being one.
If you see a woman with a killer outfit on, go ask her where she got it and don't be afraid of being perceived as too self-absorbed. Go to the baseball game with your friend, because being a fan doesn't have a gender.
Let the actions of other women inspire you and be the person you want to be regardless of who you think you should be.
Be unique by owning your personal combination of interest, opinions, and beliefs not by allowing others' perceptions and opinions to influence you, because the perceptions of others don't matter but your perception of yourself does.
