If we had a dollar for the number of times a girl/woman has heard the term ‘like a girl‘ as an insult, we’d be billionaires. An independent survey by Nielsen conduscted in association with one of India’s leading feminine care brand- whisper, reveals that 1 in 2 girls in India agree that they still see the phrase #LikeAGirl as being insulting to girls and boys. Like you ‘run like a girl’ or you ‘throw like a girl’ or even, you ‘fight like a girl’. Girls in India are often pressurized to conform to certain restrictions, especially after puberty, which leads to the women getting self-conscious and insecure about their bodies. This is further fueled by phrases such as ‘Like A Girl’ that are used intuitively to show them down.
But thankfully, as Bob Dylan predicted – the times they are a changin. In the wake of India’s success at the 2016 Olympics, the phrase ‘Like A Girl’ is going through a positive transition, but we have a long way to go. As Indian women battle with rampant sexism in all fields, like sports, business, arts, Whisper has taken up a stand and put together a movement to empower girls to do things ‘Like a Girl’ and be proud of it. The aim is that this phrase should now mean to do things with strength, talent, character and overall amazing-ness. Don’t you agree?
We need to change that and we need to change that now. So ladies, the next time someone tells you that you’re doing something ‘like a girl’, just do what you do because that means you’re kicking ass!
This post is in partnership with Whisper India