According to Better Than Ezra, "There are six and three quarter billion people in this world
And 51 percent of them are girls. You roll your eyes like I'm full of it, But I Googled that sh**" (Crazy Lucky).
Have you heard this song? I love it. But that's another story.
I *did* Google it and they are pretty accurate.
So if half the population are girls, then how did "you throw (or run, or whatever) like a girl" become an insult? Why is it that the most insulting thing you can yell at a boy is that he does anything "like a girl."
I'm even guilty of it myself. I recently revised a sentence in my own manuscript where the main character (a girl) was disparaging herself for "whining like a girl." (I revised it to whining like a baby.)
Why do we do this?
Have you seen this video from Always? It's fabulous. Basically, volunteers were asked to demonstrate running or throwing "like a girl." Older volunteers (of both gender) demonstrate "like a girl" by using exaggerated movements, or floppy arms. Girls under the age of 10 just did the activity like themselves.
The video brings tears to my eyes. As the mother of a tween girl, I'm very aware of the barrage of messages that she sees everyday. And while it might be subtle--the very real message is that "like a girl" is less than/not as good as the alternative.
We *should* run like girls, or boys, or whatever we happen to be. And do whatever it is (run or walk or throw or sing) to the very best of our ability.
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