A girl should be two things: who and what she wants. --Coco Chanel
I know this video has been going around on the internet for a few days, but I just finally got around to watching this #likeagirl video from Always. First, when the young women and young boy are asked to demonstrate various activities "like a girl," I was a little sad and pretty frustrated seeing their responses. I wasn't mad at them though--really, if I were in the same situation, I don't know that I wouldn't end up doing the same thing, which would be to act out doing things "like a girl" in an inferior and somewhat pathetic way--because they probably thought that's what they were expected to do, probably subconsciously, even if they didn't really feel like that's what "like a girl" should mean or that it's what it means to them. I was so happy and relieved that the young girls didn't think that "like a girl" meant the same thing as what the others thought it meant.
When I first started coming up with the idea for this blog about five years ago, I thought, who is going to read this? Are serious athletes going to read my blog, or are they going to treat it like a joke because I like looking pretty? Are real makeup fanatics going to read my blog, or are they going to dismiss it because I also like to work out? While makeup and fitness were compatible in my own life, it didn't seem like it was a commonly accepted thing in our society. In the end, I decided that I really didn't care if anyone read my blog. I knew that I'm a real person, who is seriously interested in being fit and living a healthy lifestyle, and who is also earnestly fascinated by makeup products and techniques. And if there's only one other person like that in the whole world, well, hopefully they like my blog!
Photo by Uberthons Fast forward to yesterday's Freedomthon 5k, a really fun experience that completely embodied my two interests. I was all costumed out--a cute red lace tutu, big red white and blue bow on my back, sunglasses, glitter bracelets, ribbon in my hair, red white and blue eyeshadow with glitter--but I was ready to race, and to push myself to PR. And once the race was underway, I was determined to stay near the front of the pack. I wondered what the guys I passed thought as they were "getting chicked" by a girl in a tutu and glittery eye makeup. (I hate the phrase "getting chicked" by the way--SO WHAT if a GIRL passes you?). I ended up 1st in my age group, 6th female, and 25th overall. I'm proud of how I did, and I had fun dressing up for the event.
If you're a girl, and you don't like running, or you don't like makeup, that's just fine too. A girl shouldn't decide that she"don't like" makeup because she thinks that people will call her vain, and she shouldn't decide that she "does like" makeup because she thinks that's what people think that women should like. What you like, or what you don't like, or how you do things, shouldn't be determined by anyone else's perceptions. Do things #likeagirl because you are a girl. But more importantly, do things #likeyou.
If you're a girl, and you don't like running, or you don't like makeup, that's just fine too. A girl shouldn't decide that she"don't like" makeup because she thinks that people will call her vain, and she shouldn't decide that she "does like" makeup because she thinks that's what people think that women should like. What you like, or what you don't like, or how you do things, shouldn't be determined by anyone else's perceptions. Do things #likeagirl because you are a girl. But more importantly, do things #likeyou.
