#LikeAGirl Proposal

#LikeAGirl

    Growing up a girl in the 21st century, it’s very common to hear statements like “you run like a girl” or “you throw like a girl”, phrases most used by men or boys as an insult, to girls or to each other. In a classic movie from 1993, The Sandlot, one of the most famous scenes is when there is a fight between two rival baseball groups. In the clip, they are throwing insults back and forth, until one boy says, “You play ball like a GIRL.” All of the boys are in shock following this, and the boy who was told this was at a loss for words, ending the fight and the scene. When did telling someone they do something like a girl become an insult or humiliation tactic? 

In the advertisement by the brand Always, which was in the 2014 Super Bowl, it starts with a director asking women, a young boy, and a grown man to do certain things “like a girl.” They went on to do the actions mocking the women, like fake running, being more worried about their hair, and dropping the ball instead of pretending to throw it. Then, they asked young girls. All of the young girls ran as fast as they could and threw the imaginary ball as far as they could. The director asked the young boy if he insulted his sister, and he said that he insulted girls, but not his sister. I think it is important to note how the age of the girls impacted how they answered the questions. All of the women said or implied how hurtful the phrase “like a girl” is, and how it can hurt their self confidence and puts them down, but when the young girls answered they said that “like a girl” means to do things as best they can. I think it is also interesting that the blonde woman said that in the vulnerable time between age 10 and 12 is when it starts to put them down, and then they show the oldest looking of the young girls who says it sounds like a bad thing. 

I think that this commercial is extremely powerful in a number of different ways. I think especially since it was broadcasted on arguably the most watched television event, it opened the eyes of so many people on how that phrase is truly a negative thing. They say that in puberty, a girl's confidence plummets. I think a part of this may be social media, so I think it is even more important that this commercial is seen now that social media is becoming more and more important in people's lives. I also think that sometimes if the insult doesn’t offend you personally, or it’s not being said directly to you, sometimes you don’t really think when you use it. Along with this, the phrase can also be construed as sexist. Looking back at the clip from The Sandlot, the boys were so offended when someone said that they played like a girl, because it was the same as telling them they were weak and bad at baseball. 

The airing of this commercial in 2014 was influential in more projects and advertisements, since this one was shown on such a large scale. Even though the company “Dove” has been doing similar projects since 2002, some of their more well known pieces aired following the “Always” commercial. I also believe that this showed people the consequences of your words and the effect it has on young girls and their development and confidence.

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