Not Bad, For A Girl #LikeAGirl #YourTurnChallenge

Day Three

For a Girl

The Question: Something I think should be improved.
How can I choose only one thing? Let’s see. Okay what about the way women are perceived and presented to the world. Dumb Blonde. Ditzy Dame. Silly chick. Airhead. I’m sure you can fill in so many more derogative titles, all said with the pretense of humor.
I recently found this incredible video, sponsored by Always. Like a girl:

Here I am past 60, and I sat there with tears trickling down my cheeks. How many times had I allowed these words to be said about me? How many times had I toned down my activity, my strength, so I wasn’t thought of as not girly enough?
I finally said to hell with ‘them’ and lifted large bales of hay, mucked straw stalls, mowed the lawn, changed my own tires and batteries and oil. Yes, I was a girl but I was not less than.
Even today, when we should be in a better place; even in our first world society, we find girls still too often considered ‘less than.’ We still see salary disparities. And we still see elected officials interfering with the right to control our own lives and bodies.
What can be improved? Our own mindsets, and the way our children see each other. Not “Smart for a girl” or “Fast for a girl” or for that matter “Clever for a boy.” But Smart and Fast and Clever…and wouldn’t that be wonderful?