“Like a Girl”


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When did doing something “like a girl” become an insult? When I was little, my brothers would tell me I threw “like a girl”. And although I know they were trying to motivate me to throw stronger, faster, and better, at the same time, they were also implying I was not throwing good enough and that I needed to change. So, at an early age, I learned that the words “like a girl” were an insult, something bad, and extremely disempowering. How many times have YOU heard phrases such as: “run like a girl”, “jump like a girl”, “swim like a girl”, or “bike like a girl”? Girls’ plummeting self-esteem and what has been labeled as the “confidence crisis” may just begin to change for the better when we can start using the phrase “like a girl” to mean something amazing and altogether powerful.

Lauren Greenfield, an award-winning American artist and documentary photographer and filmmaker, has teamed up with the company Always to start a movement to empower girls to know that “like a girl” can mean strength and confidence and something good! Together, Greenfield and Always intend to shed light on how these simple words, when spoken in a positive way, can have a long-lasting and significant impact on girls and women alike. Greenfield says, “This project is a fantastic and vital opportunity to empower girls (and educate our audience) to always align the expression #LIKEAGIRL with the meaning of strength, confidence, and empowerment.”

I am proud and privileged to run, bike, swim, talk, dance, sing, listen, care, love, and laugh “like a girl”. And, to champion young girls’ confidence and sense of self worth, we need to let them know they are beautiful, wonderful, and unique just as they are, and precisely because they are “like a girl”.

For more information on the #likeagirl movement, go to

www.always.com