This is a topic that I was never all that sure if I wanted to wright about.
Although feminism is a big movement in this day and age, it's still a touchy subject for some and everyone seems to have a different definition of feminism.
When I googled the definition of feminism, the result I got was "The advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." This isn't fighting for equality in general, this is a movement for WOMEN equality. This is not quite the same thing as having equality for everyone no matter what race, age, gender, religion, sexuality and whatever else you could think of, but this is a movement between two opposing sexes, man and woman.
We hear all about this when we get older, when we get to high school, it seems like a casual thing. I don't have much to say on the direct topic of feminism, but I do want to share some downgrading experiences I've has. I never realized how much it has affected my life from so early on.
We've all probably heard words like this, but I remember being back in elementary school, during recess, I'd often hear the words "You _____ like a girl!" Whether that would be kick or throw, those words were deemed as an insult.
Since when has my gender been an insult?
Back at that age, I didn't know that I could say something about it. If I threw a ball farther then some boy, I would be proud, but that didn't mean that they would stop using those words as an insult to some other boy, because "You're a girl...you're going to throw like one anyway" was always said to the girls.
Whenever a boy would pick up a pink or purple colored pencil or crayon, it would mean that they're girly.
What is wrong with those colors? Sure, when a child is born, a boy will receive a blue blanket, and a girl a pink one, but that doesn't mean that boys are forbidding to use the color pink.
Earlier this evening, I was having supper with my sister and parents when I asked if they were going to be in the basement after supper because I wanted to play Halo. My sister said "You shouldn't even be playing Halo, you're a girl."
Since when has my gender determined what video games I should and shouldn't play?
For years, we have been treated of as a lesser value without even knowing it.
Younger boys would use our gender as an insult, it will make us seem weird if we play any type of video game, and so much more.
Why can't all humans be seen as equals in everyone's eyes?
Boys can do gymnastics, girls can play football.
Boys can do dance, girls can play video games.
Boys can figure skate, girls can wrestle.
Boys can like chick flicks, girls can like gruesome/action movies.
Boys can bake and cook, girls can watch sports on TV.
It's time to break the stereotypes.
I am a girl, and I'm proud to throw like a girl, I'm proud of playing video games, I'm proud of my thoughts and intelligence, I'm proud to watch sports on TV.
Nothing you will say will make me change my mind on being proud of my gender, and being proud of who I am.
To end this post, I want to leave you guys with Always #LikeAGirl video. This is an advert/commercial on TV, but the message behind it is so powerful and is what inspired me to write this.
One More Girl, no longer online
As humans, we feel the need to impress people, to make them love us, to be hated by no one, and to leave a legacy of some sort on this earth for years after we're gone.
Why do we all crave this feeling? Why can no one be happy with who they truly are anymore?
We should not be worrying about impressing people, because honestly, the people that are worth impressing deserve to know the true you. As the old saying goes, its better to be loved for who you are then to be loved for someone you're not. We have to stop comparing ourselves to others to be more "impressive".
If you're trying to impress someone with the intentions of a good friendship or dating them, there's no need to feel like someone you're not to be able to get them to like you back. The right person will come along for the right role, someday.
These days, I feel as though at school, it's a competition for who has the most likes on, Instagram, who has the most followers on Twitter, the most friends on Facebook. Why does it seem like people are competing over stuff like this?
In the long run, it's almost as if they picture life as a race, as in who's the most "loved" by people over social media.
It's almost as if everyone is in a drawing competition, and everyone is desperate to finish first so that they can say "Look at me! I'm done! I did it!" The truth is, you don't get happiness from finishing first, you get it while drawing something your proud of.
We have to let go of the insane thought about proving to everyone else that we're better in some aspect, and then we could be free to accomplish the dreams we never go the chance to imagine because we were so busy trying to impress others for no reason.
If we break down all the situations that we weren't ourselves because we wanted to impress the people around us that were in our lives for only a certain amount of time, and not for the long run, I can honestly say that I feel like I've wasted a lot of time.
I'm going to change that about my life, and if some of you also decide to do the same, feel free to comment and say how you're going to do so, and we can do this together.
No more impressing people, it's finally time to be me. If people don't like it, to bad. I'll know that hey aren't meant to be a permanent figure in my life.
That's also kind of why I like posting on my blog. I find that because it's anonymous, you know that there's truth to what I'm saying, I'm not making up scenarios in my head because this is the only place I can be myself. I'm not worrying about writing to impress you guys, I'm just writing about something that happened in my life and could be relatable or helpful to someone else.
Let the world see you as who you are. Stand tall, be proud.
One More Girl, no longer online
Do you ever send a text to someone, most times a friend, and the minute that you hit the send button, you're already imagining what the other person might respond with or what you hope that they'll reply with?
A few days ago, I had one of my few good friends text me and asking why I wasn't in school, to which I replied saying that I was sick.
I could already imagine the possibilities of what he could text back. I was picturing it saying "Oh man, how are you doing?" or "What are you sick with?" or anything along those lines of asking how I was doing, but in reality, all I got was a "That sucks."
I can't say that I was over the moon to read that text, but what could I have done? He cared enough to ask, and that was already sweet of him.
When you're talking to someone through a screen, they can't see you, can't see how you look, let alone see how you react to a certain text. Even in person, they can't climb into your head and see the perfect response that you could be picturing in your mind.
I do feel, to an extent, that I'm more confident over text for those exact same reasons. You don't have to see the person while texting them a specific thing, you don't have to see their reaction, you can easily stop talking to them if things go wrong, it could be a little easier to open up to a person under those circumstances.
There's a very slim chance of you receiving the perfect text that you could be imagining, but does that mean it's bad to think about it? Are you just setting yourself up for disappointment? Can you get a text better then what you've imagined?
There's always a chance that you might get the text that you've always wanted to read. It could be a small serendipity, who knows?
I just know that I'm still waiting for mine to happen.
One More Girl, no longer online
