By Clove Morgan
How many times have you been told something is too girly? Maybe you’ve had it said to you because you admitted your favorite movie or song. It could have been the way you played a sport or the clothes you wore. At least once, we’ve all heard that expression in our lives. It has made us wary of admitting our interests and, as a result, less willing to speak up for ourselves. However, I’ve grown to be unapologetically feminine and you can too.
As a kid, I was into all things stereotypically girlish. I adored pink so much that everything from my school books to my clothes to my bedroom walls had to be some variation of the color. Despite the endless teasing from my classmates, I was unwavering in my love for it at that age. Though, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me. My affinity trailed off by the time I reached middle school, the arena for bullying, and it took until my senior year of high school to truly embrace pink again.
I’m not saying that color preference is the end-all-be-all of what makes someone girly, but we can at least name one instance where we experienced gender bias at a young age. The narrative that femininity is weak has been exhausted now that we have entered a new era of feminist activism. Impressionable girls now have strong icons to look up to in all forms of media. It’s no secret that our new role models are leaders of the revolution in various fields, fictional or otherwise. We have made immense progress in providing figures for girls of all ages to look up to.
There is still work to be done, however, and we must keep working toward a more inclusive future for girls everywhere. Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: being your unique self is different than isolating yourself from other women. What I mean by this is that you cannot compete with the girls around you; we’re all on the same team. Uplift the voices of the girls that need to be heard. In spaces where you are the only one being listened to because of your privilege, use it as a tool to help the girls that have been talked over.
We are complex individuals. As said by Jo March in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women: “Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts.” Girls are multifaceted. It is important to use our strengths to help others and create the change we hoped for as children. As we age, we come into our own, and we need to build communities with other women.
When we think about girlhood, we must see strength and femininity intertwined. They are not the antithesis of one another. In fact, I would argue that they are one and the same. It takes courage to embrace being a girl in all of its forms. You should never fear admitting your love of chick flicks, pop music, shopping, or anything else stereotyped as girly interests. We change from day to day. If you want to be experimental with your gender expression through masculinity and then switch to femininity, you are free to do so. I’m only asking that you don’t suppress the side of yourself that needs to be indulged once in a while.
Part of self-acceptance is seeing your inner girl and breaking her out of the captivity that gender discrimination has trapped us in. Whether you are exploring gender or wanting to be more confident in who you are, connect with girlhood. Discover what clicks for you and love it without hesitation. I can speak from experience, it feels good to be girly!
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