Watch this. Watch this now. Then show your family, your friends, your neighbours, your nan, sod it, show it to your bus driver, just share this with people around you.
Watch this. Watch this now. Then show your family, your friends, your neighbours, your nan, sod it, show it to your bus driver, just share this with people around you.
This video hits the nail on the head and it does so perfectly, by confronting a particular niche form of a deeply engrained societal tolerance for misogyny. Tackling issues like why doing something “like a girl” is a bad thing is a perfect way to target a very everyday type of sexism that, whilst tolerated, merely exacerbates the overarching problem that women are not ultimately and totally regarded as equal in society.
Always
The first thing you should know about this video is that was created by feminine product company Always. Always are responsible for, among many other things, a Puberty Education Program that reaches 17-20 million girls across 65 countries, a partnership with several other institutions on the “Ban Bossy” programme that encourages girls to feel comfortable in leadership roles, and finally a partnership with UNESCO that provides Girls and Young Women’s literacy programs.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Needless to say, Always is working tirelessly in the fight to empower women everywhere.
Lauren Greenfield
The woman chosen to direct the video was Lauren Greenfield; an entirely fitting choice since she is heralded as a preeminent chronicler of youth culture, gender and consumerism. Greenfields states about the piece: “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.”
The Twitter feed
It’s really worth checking out the Always Twitter feed in the light of this video, and indeed searching #LikeAGirl on Twitter. The results make for quite good reading (in this case they are far better than the YouTube comments which appear to be from people who don’t know which way is up). For example, some of my favourites include: “I investment bank #LikeAGirl”, “Say #LikeAGirl to me and I merely think: ‘Doing everything totally effing brilliantly,’ and finally, “Getting over 200lbs overhead and then squatting it #LikeAGirl.”
Experiences
This made me think about all the times I was told I was doing something like a girl, whether it was not managing to finish huge portions of food, or running at the gym or driving, every time it happened it can be easily translated to “whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it crap.”
And when you think about that in relation to the times when this phrase has been used directly against yourself, and then you reflect on the connotations of the fact that apparently in our society the word “girl” is interchangeable with the word “crap,” well then your blood starts to boil, just a tad.
Are we really comfortable allowing any notion of being female to be equivalent to something inadequate, lacking and incompetent? And are we really willing to tolerate the notion that as women, whatever we are doing is not considered of equal calibre to that very same action as done by a man?
Since its release just over two weeks ago, this video has racked up nearly 35 million views demonstrating the relevance and importance such a campaign as this has in society. So remember when you start that new job, or don that graduation gown, that you’ve done all of that #LikeAGirl.
What do you think of this week’s Viral Video? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo: YouTube
