Girls Should Not Act Like Girls | Teen Ink

Girls Should Not Act Like Girls

December 9, 2011
By Essielong20 SILVER, Conifer, Colorado
Essielong20 SILVER, Conifer, Colorado
6 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
In The end everything will be ok, if its not ok its not the end


Girls should not act like girls. Women have a very stereotypical view given to them. No, not all girls run around wearing pink dresses and singing pretty songs. No, not all girls stay at home cooking and cleaning the house until their husband or fathers get home from work. Yes, a lot of girls act like guys and participate in things that are specifically for guys. Yes, girls express themselves the way they choose to, whether that is running around in dresses and being what the world sees as “proper”, or rolling around in the mud and playing sports that the world looks down to. Girls should not act like girls.
In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” By Harper Lee, the narrator demonstrates the girls should not act like girls. Scout is a 6 year old girl in the 1930’s who runs around town in overalls with her brother and does all the things that he does. Some people in the neighborhood try to tell her how to act and dress, but she still goes along acting and dressing the same way she always has. During her first year of school she beats up one of her male classmates for getting her in trouble, and in the 1930’s, a girl getting in a fist fight is like a giraffe flying to the moon.
A lot of girls are tomboys because they believe that acting like a woman makes them weak and less important then men, in result of this, they start striving for power by getting into guy activities to prove that she is as important as a guy and that she is strong. Women do a lot of male activities, and the world looks down on them from that. The Jacksonville State University had a female kicker on their football team, her team never had a problem with her playing, other people did. In some peoples eyes, a girl going dirt bike riding, playing football, doing anything but what a girl is “supposed to do” is an insult to the female gender, I don’t understand. In high schools, colleges, and many organizations, there wont just be a boys basketball or soccer team, there will also be girls. Girls play many sports that guys play and in certain cases, will play against guys. If girls aren’t supposed to do these things then why are they offered? Are girls just not supposed to be able to express themselves? In the work field, women do a lot of jobs that guys do, and sometimes do them better.
I know on a personal matter that girls should not act like girls. I’m 14 years old and a freshman in high school, and I dress and act like a guy. Is this wrong? No its just who I am. I enjoy playing football and many aggressive sports. I was going to try out for the football team but chose marching band instead. I hunt, ski, fish, watch and fallow sports. So am I wrong? Am I an insult to the female gender? Nope, I’m just me the way I chose to be. Hanging out with guys and doing the things they do isn’t “wrong”, it just shows what your interested in. Ladies, if you want to wrestle or try out for the football team, go for it, if you enjoy playing video games, hunting, skiing, fishing, ect. Don’t let anyone drag you down. Just because the public thinks its wrong doesn’t mean you have to.
Many people think girls should act like girls, their not wrong, but that doesn’t mean their right. Seeing a girl dress up to go out, or walking correctly, not slouching when they sit, ect. Is proper. A girl playing football or wrestling is unusual and people don’t know how to react, so they automatically judge. Dressing up to go out to a nice restaurant, or go to the movies is a normal thing you see many women do, but that doesn’t need to limit women to having to do that all the time does it?
All people have the right to express themselves in any way, and if that’s a girl acting more like a guy, then no one should have a problem with it. Girls are as strong and powerful as men and can act, dress, and be anything they want. Girls should not act like girls.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 1 comment.


lpg77 BRONZE said...
on Dec. 29 2011 at 11:03 pm
lpg77 BRONZE, South Orange, New Jersey
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments
While I appreciate the idea you are trying to get across (not sticking to gender stereotypes) I was a little bit put off by your article. You seem to be putting down girls who "act like girls" (a phrase which, though you may not realize, is, in itself, a form of gender stereotyping). This is something that so many girls and women do, and has always bothered me about the feminist movement. I am an avid feminist, but I just don't see the point in putting down one "type of girl" in support of another. Why can't girls wear pink dresses and play sports? Why can't girls like putting on makeup as well as reading books? Can't a girl enjoy shopping and science, history, math, etc? You clearly have a good mindset, wishing to challenge modern stereotypes. But I warn you against categorizing women and girls, and viewing one "type" as superior to another. We should all just be united in our sisterhood!