“Stop crying like a girl.”
“Hey dude, you run like a girl.”
These statements, don’t they make you wonder since when did being “like a girl” become an insult? Do people who utter such “innocent remarks” understand how they affect a girl’s psyche? What if I told you 1 in 2 girls in India find the phrase #LikeAGirl insulting? According to an independent survey by Nielsen, conducted in association with Whisper, 7 in 10 girls in India feel pressurized to conform to societal restrictions and 6 in 10 girls eventually stop playing sports or are compelled to let go of their passions on reaching puberty.
This powerful video by Whisper India shows how young women, boys and girls perceive the phrase “like a girl” differently and how it is changing the conversation about what it means to throw, run and do pretty much everything “like a girl.” With young Indian women bringing laurels to the country at the recent Olympics, the wave of change has already begun.
All we need to do is join in, by continuing to do things #LikeAGirl and being proud of it.