Too often we hear the phrase "like a girl" with a negative connotation. Just imagine throwing a ball like a girl. Do you picture a girl weakly throwing a football at the ground or throwing a football in the most perfect spiral? Most often, it's the first one. It is time we redefine that phrase "like a girl" because girls can do everything just as well as guys can.
In fact, there are many girls who are better than guys. Jenny Jones was the first Brit ever to medal in a snow event in the winter Olympics and she didn't even start boarding until she was sixteen!
Have you ever heard the phrase "fight like a girl"? Well it shouldn't be a bad thing. There are plenty of badass women who could knock you down in one strike. Ronda Rousey is the current number 1 women bantamweight champion with 12 wins, one lose, and zero ties. She has an olympic bronze medal and eight of her 12 pro wins have ended in the first round due to submission by armbar. Plus, she has a great role model--her mother who was the first ever woman to win a world judo competition!
Women have come a long way in the last fifty years. Ever heard of Julia Chase-Brand? In the early 1960s, women were not allowed to participate in races over 880 yards because it was popularly believed that long distanced running was harmful to women's reproductive abilities. As a kid, Chase logged at least 60 miles per week. She competed in her first race at the age of 15 in 1960. She placed first and even broke the track record! The thing was, she had to lie and say that she was from Rhode Island because women from Connecticut weren't allowed to compete.
She then registered for a Thanksgiving run (4.7 miles) and was refused entry due to her sex. So she registered for the same race the following year and so many news sources followed her story (including Sports Illustrated and international newspapers) that she was able to encourage other women to run in it too! She even ran in a dress and lipstick (her gym uniform). This was so monumental but there were many people still against her. Officials threatened to banned her from races if she didn't stop interrupting men's races. Even though she was in a career ending car crash a few years later, she was one of the inspiring women who got Title IX in the works.
So what is Title IX? It states that, "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance". In 1970 only 7% of high school girls participated in high school sports. Today, more than 40% of high school girls participate. In 1972, very few athletic scholarships for women existed and by 2010, 48% of all athletic scholarships at Division 1 schools were going to women.
Always has a campaign that encourages all girls to keep playing #LikeAGirl. They believe that sports is critical in building confidence. They even found a study that found that women, ages 18 to 24, are twice as likely to be confident if they play sports regularly. They invite everyone to join in and rewrite the rules and keep girls in sports because half of all girls who play sports quit when puberty comes around (right when their confidence is the lowest and they are trying to conform to societal expectations). They came out with an empowering commercial that millions have seen and is still being shared on social media today. Check it out here!
It is about damn time we redefine what it means to do things like a girl. There are tons more examples of women doing amazing things in history, science, athletics, leading the world, and so many other areas. So the next time someone says that you "throw like a girl" tell them to suck it. Just kidding, you can if you want. But actually, make sure they know they are wrong. That doing ANYTHING LIKE A GIRL l IS NOT AN INSULT and we are not ashamed!
