A common theme in movies that come from the early 2000s is the character trope of the "cool girl," the girl who eats a burger and shudders at the thought of eating a salad but stays super thin anyway, the girl who couldn't care less about the way her nails look, the girl who doesn't wear makeup but still looks perfectly manicured, the girl who is "not like other girls."
This was a character trope that I grew up knowing quite well, and it was something that I aspired to be when I was younger. I did not want to be a "basic girl" who wore pink all the time and cried about breaking a nail. I even remember banning pink from my wardrobe when I was around 7 because I was so firmly against being "like other girls."
But here's the thing — There is absolutely nothing wrong with being "like other girls."
There is nothing wrong with liking girly things and caring about the way your nails look and wearing makeup.
There is also nothing wrong with wearing T-shirts and jeans and not wearing makeup and not caring about the way other people see you.
What is wrong is trying to pigeon-hole all women into one category. What is wrong is saying that all women are a certain way and saying that it is bad or not worthy of respect and the way you shouldn't be because it is stereotypically "feminine." What is wrong is reinforcing the idea that "masculine" qualities are superior to "feminine" ones.
Subordinating most women implies that there is something wrong with being a woman. That there are some women who are better than others just because they are less effeminate or they care less or because they are more convenient to men by having attributes that are more often thought of as "masculine," such as being more low maintenance or needy.
Women, like any people, are diverse. They come in all shapes and sizes. They have different wants, needs and ambitions, and grouping most women into a stereotype of "other girls" to set aside as subordinate or less deserving of respect because they exhibit more traditionally "feminine" behaviors is sexist.
I do not think there is anything wrong with being "like other girls," because the women I am surrounded by everyday are inspiring and wonderful and special in their own way.
By putting up these walls and stereotypes, we are pitting women against each other instead of bringing them together. We are limiting our girls by telling them that they should not be a certain way or like certain things because that will strip away what makes them special individuals and lump them in with "other girls".
I am OK with being "like other girls" — actually I want to be "like other girls," because all the girls I know are pretty awesome. The truth is that "other girls" are just people. They are not stereotypes or caricatures of what society thinks a woman should or should not be.
The women I am surrounded by are uniquely themselves — they are not limited by a character trope and they do whatever the hell they want, and that is the kind of woman I want to be.
