Proof That We're Not Born Thinking Doing Things 'Like A Girl' Is A Bad Thing

Proof We're Not Born Thinking Doing Things 'Like A Girl' Is A Bad Thing

"When did doing something 'like a girl' become an insult?"

That's the question posed in an eye-opening social experiment which you can watch in the video above.

When older teenagers were asked to run, throw, or fight "like a girl," they flailed their limbs to appear weak and lazy. When younger kids were asked to do the same, they ran hard, threw with determination and fought fiercely.

A study conducted by Research Now, and sponsored by Always, found that girls tend to experience a drop in confidence around puberty, which might explain the discrepancy in how different age groups perceive the phrase "like a girl."

"When the words 'like a girl' are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering," Lauren Greenfield, filmmaker and director of the video said in a press release. And that's why she's partnered with Always to redefine "like a girl" once and for all, asking people to share what they do #LikeAGirl -- and therefore, awesomely.

At the end of the video, the older girls interviewed were given a chance to reconsider how they initially chose to impersonate girls running. They concluded that "running like a girl" can also mean winning the race, and one young woman summed it up perfectly:

"If somebody else says that running like a girl or kicking like a girl or shooting like a girl is something that you shouldn't be doing, that's their problem. Because if you're still scoring and you're still getting to the ball on time... you're doing it right. It doesn't matter what they say. Yes, I kick like a girl and I swim like a girl and I walk like a girl and I wake up in the morning like a girl -- because I am a girl. And that is not something I should be ashamed of."

Before You Go

Gina Rodriguez

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