Everyone Should Run Like a Girl
The Always #likeagirl campaign has been a force for teaching everyone, especially women, that the statement “like a girl” is inherently sexist and is now a positive statement for women. Women are tired of being told that they are essentially weaker for doing something “like a girl”. The main target of this advertisement is to show that “like a girl” isn’t an insult anymore. Although the phrase “like a girl’’ has been an insult in the past, women are starting to realize that the phrase does no harm to them anymore and they are starting to recognize that they can do things that they have not had the opportunity to do in the past.
In the advertisement, it shows multiple people doing actions “like a girl”. In the first half, it shows people doing actions in a stereotypical way. In the second half, it shows them asking younger girls to do the actions. The girls then do the actions normally. Once the other people that did the stereotypical realized that they messed up, they got a chance to do it over again. The advertisement ends with a link for people to go to learn more about the campaign.
According to a study done by Always, the phrase “like a girl” has only a positive connection with 19% of women. Also, 56% of girls lose confidence at puberty. Always did a really nice job with all of the research they have done for this campaign. They went really in-depth and even made a teaching guide to help educate others about this. According to the New York Times, confidence falls by 30% for girls between the ages of 8 to 14. Also, Always has done multiple YouTube videos with different women talking about their experiences with the phrase “like a girl”. I like how Always got two professional female athletes to do these two-minute advertisements talking about the #likeagirl campaign. The first video I will be talking about is United States Women’s National Team striker Alex Morgan. The other video I will be talking about is Canada Women’s National Soccer Team goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe.
In the video about Alex Morgan, she talks about her love and passion for sports. She goes on to explain how she decided that she wanted to play soccer. When she was playing youth club soccer, she got cut from the team because she was not good enough according to her coach. When she heard that, her confidence dropped. She also acknowledges that other girls hearing those words are more likely to lose confidence as well. As she pauses speaking, a graphic pops up. It reads, “At puberty, girls’ confidence plummets and half quit sports.” Alex Morgan credits her boost of confidence to continue playing soccer to her mom and female soccer teammates. Once she regained her confidence, she tried out for another team and the rest is history. At the end of the video, Morgan shouts out the #likeagirl campaign and tells people to make a post on social media explaining how they play “like a girl”.
“It was hard when people got in my way and said you can’t be a professional [athlete] as a female.” Those are the words of professional soccer goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe, goalie for North Carolina Courage and the CWNT. After Labbe talks, a graphic pops up on the screen. It reads, “Every woman faces a stereotype that can limit her.” I like how in these little YouTube commercials they have parts where they add their research or a little part of the campaign in there. She goes on to talk about how people do not believe, accept, or realize that she is a professional athlete because she is a woman. Then, there is a little montage of her training and playing in a game. During the montage, she says, “I hope that one day we can see athletes for athletes”. She continues by talking about stereotyping and questioning why people stereotype in the first place. The main point of this last part is her asking, “Who decides all of this anyway?”. The answer you may be wondering is yourself. I thought that was a great way to end the video. The way she challenges us to think about how we think about ourselves can help us boost our confidence.
Even with two professional female athletes talking about their experiences, it is important to note that this affects everyone. Everyone everywhere experiences some sort of stereotyping. I have even experienced stereotyping when I played sports. In eighth grade, I tried out to play baseball in my park district. I played on the worst team in the league. I ended up getting hit by pitches more often than my other male teammates. I was also the only female player in my league. It was also hard to play against the boys when my own teammates were not supportive of me. In my freshman year, I asked if I could try out for baseball at my private high school. They told me that since I am a girl, I would only have the opportunity to try out for softball. I was really upset by the decision and the fact that I could not do anything about it.
Overall, Always has done a wonderful job with this campaign. I honestly have no complaints about it at all. The message is positive and it sheds a light on stereotyping. I think that more and more people will stop making these kinds of comments from now on. All in all, women everywhere are feeling more confident and more aware that they can do anything. To tie it all together, as the girl in the navy blue dress said at the end of the advertisement, “I kick like a girl, I swim like a girl, walk like a girl, and I wake up in the morning like a girl. That is not something I should be ashamed of, so I’m going to do it anyway.