An Essay On The Advertisement Like A Girl

Abbey Martin
Instructor Hannah Baggott
WR 121
February 21, 2015
Like A Girl The Always advertisement entitled, “Always #LikeAGirl,” explores the social prejudices that young girls in American society face on a daily basis. It suggests the idea of changing the phrase “like a girl” from an insult into a compliment that represents the strength and power that lies within women and girls instead of weakness. This advertisement appeals to teen and pre-teen girls challenged by societal pressures as they face puberty. It also calls out American society as a whole for perpetuating the system that leads to the discrimination of women and girls. It was released in summer of 2014 to encourage girls to have confidence despite being in a season of typically male dominated physical activity. The Always advertisement unpacks the reality of gender inequality while simultaneously instilling power and self-esteem in young girls struggling to maintain self-confidence through puberty; it invites young women and girls into the conversation and vision of gender equality by associating a popular brand with women’s rights, creating a potential for impactful change through America’s youth. On a regular basis, the phrase “like a girl” is used as a derogatory term to hurt, intimidate, and demean both boys and girls in many different environments. This video uses this phrase continually to call to question what it actually means to run, swim, or throw like a girl. Throughout the video, boys and girls alike are asked to portray what it means to perform the above activities “like a girl.” The older girls, ages 12 and up, and the two boys portray the stereotypically weak and flimsy version of girls running. On the other hand, younger girls ages 10 and under portray running like a girl in a very strong and athletic manner demonstrating how a girl’s self-confidence and sense of identity drops off after puberty. It also shows how boys are part of the issue as well since they too adopt the stereotypes of weak and incapable women and girls. There are several moments of intensity in which the girls and boys in this video express their thoughts on what it means to be “like a girl.” At one point, a young woman asks the question, “Why can’t running like a girl also mean winning the race?” (Greenfield). It’s a challenging question aimed to bring the topic of gender equality to the forefront of the audience’s minds, which allows the audience to take into consideration what steps they can take to correct this issue. These stereotypes have come into existence through a variety of ways, one of which is the desire for men to prove their masculinity and in so doing squash femininity. Leah Funk and Cherie D. Werhun discuss exactly this in their article,
“ ’You’re Such a Girl!’ The Psychological Drain of the Gender-Role Harassment of Men.” The article discusses the results of a recent study in which one group of men was exposed to gender-related harassment while performing certain tasks and another group of men was not. The study found that the harassed group who was told that they hold a handgrip “like a girl” felt it more necessary to hold the handgrip for even longer when offered a second chance to improve their initial score. The article states, “During the second handgrip task, men in the harassment condition squeezed the handgrip significantly longer than men in the no harassment condition. Thus, whereas gender-role harassment caused significant impairments in cognitive ability and attentional self-regulation, tests of physical strength and stamina improved” (Funk and Werhun 19). According to this study the phrase “like a girl” is so threatening that grown men feel the need to prove whom they already are just to disassociate from women and girls. Actions like these lead to insecurities in men and women both which ultimately leads to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes. When men lose confidence by being compared to a girl, then they are subconsciously perpetuating gender discrimination by acknowledging that women are weak and because of that they must be insignificant or unimportant.
These subconscious statements plays into the stereotype that women are weak and at times useless because of this. Women are not weak. There is a certain logical and scientific argument to men and boys being stronger than women and girls, which is partially valid. However, if you look closely the strength in women and girls is just as obvious as that in men and boys, it just manifests itself in different ways at times.
With feminism being a controversial topic currently, Always takes a bold stance by aligning themselves with the same audience that is buying their product. Young women and girls, especially those on the cusp of puberty are going to need to purchase feminine products at some point. Always advances the status of their reputable and well-known brand through this advertisement by showing their support for their market. Always wants their brand to become synonymous with gender equality, which is certainly something that much of their demographic also has a desire for. At the end of the day, many would say that this advertisement is just a marketing tool and that perhaps it is manipulative. In the article, “Yes, Always’ ‘Like A Girl’ Campaign is Great – but it’s Also Deceptive,” Madison Avenue writes, “[The Campaign] demonstrates real problems- femaleness as a derogatory statement, decrease in self-confidence as women mature – in a beautiful and clear way, but then pretends a corporate manufacturer of panty liners meant to ‘help you feel fresh every day’ can solve them” (Avenue). However, despite the fact that a driving force in all advertisements is profit, the message of this Always video outweighs the advertisement aspect because of how it draws women and girls into this conversation.
Last year, Mo’ne Davis arrived hot on the scene of the Little League World Championships to prove that girls can thrive even in a male-dominated environment. Like the Always advertisement, she served, and continues to serve, as a beacon of hope for young women and girls who feel unable to be fully themselves as a result of gender discrimination. Melissa Isaacson discusses Mo’ne’s influence in “Why Mo’ne Davis’ Play Matters to Girls.” In the article, a young girl named Jamie Girgenti says of Davis, “Her self-esteem must be very high to play with all boys. She doesn’t seem stuck up at all but just someone with great confidence. Mo’ne would be my role model if I was on a baseball team. She would be my role model even in general” (Isaacson). This comment regarding Davis serves as an example of how necessary it is to have a strong female presence in all aspects of society. Young girls like Girgenti crave independence and freedom from the male-dominated society. By watching Davis, many girls were able to feel confidence in their own skin in a way they hadn’t experienced before.
Always provides a similar level of confidence to young girls faced with having to choose their identity based on societal pressures. It provides an outlet for young women and girls to feel all the burdens they bear as a result of gender discrimination, while at the same time recognizing that they are not alone. The women and girls on their TV or computer screen understand exactly what they are going through. Always may be playing into the emotions of the audience through the use of pathos as a way of making money, but if that pushes young women and girls to take pride in who they are, then the relatively small level of potential emotional manipulation would be well worth it.
Gender stereotyping and gender-related harassment begins at a very young age, which is why the potential for change is in the hands of America’s youth. Blogger and mother Jill Topol criticizes society for putting these pressures on kids from such a young age in her blog post, “The Gender Bias World of Toys.” In the post she describes her frustration with gendered toys and how by assigning specific toys to specific genders it inhibits creativity and active play in young children. She writes, “It makes me really sad. We’re stifling our children’s creativity in fear of what? That they’ll turn gay if they play with an Anna and Elsa doll. You know that’s not how it works, right?” (Topol). There is a certain freedom in being allowed to be exactly who you are. The toys you play with or the sports you play are simply a part of you, but they do not shape you. Topol writes about how her son was bullied for wanting to play with traditionally girl toys in addition to his traditionally boy toys. Similar to the article regarding men’s desire to prove their masculinity, toy discrimination as an offshoot of gender discrimination as a whole only leads to a recycled system of prejudice and stereotypes related to gender. To call that into question, like the Always advertisement does, cracks the system ever so slightly so that room can be made for equality.
This Always advertisement appeals to young people in modern-day society who have the opportunity to raise their children in an accepting environment and ultimately re-shape how we view opposing sexes and their relationship to each other. At one point in the video, one girl describes how she is a girl through and through, which includes being feminine while at the same time athletic, and how that shouldn’t be something that she has to be ashamed of. This girl in particular stood out to me because as she shows the camera her athletic ability, she’s dressed in a dress and sandals. Typically, when girls are being portrayed as athletic they are dressed in athletic or masculine attire. I appreciated Always representing girls as exactly who they are in that they are both feminine and strong and not one or the other. If we are able to introduce young people to a new reality of acceptance and equality, then that will extend outwardly to future generations. Advertisements are one way to introduce this new way of thinking, since young people watch upwards of 40,000 commercials each year (Vitelli). By having an advertisement with a positive and timely message, the door to the idea of gender equality starting with young people who are beginning to face or conform to gender discrimination can be opened.
Finally, the Always advertisement and accompanying articles represent how using “like a girl” in regards to athletics is a very limited view. Instead, they expand the conversation to show that what it means to act “like a girl” shows up in all aspects of life. If girls are being portrayed as weak and powerless on the playground, then they are being portrayed and viewed as that in the classroom, at work and at home. Our prejudices towards girls while playing sports oozes into all facets of life, including the lives of men and boys who feel pressure to not associate with anything girl related. Regardless of the medium in which it is presented, it is our job to hear the message that is the importance of gender equality and confidence in young women and girls, and shape our lives, and in so doing the lives of young people in our society, in a way that supports that message and encourages freedom and equality for both men and women. It is unfair to let half of our population suffer when our generations, and future generations, have the power to change it.

Works Cited
Always #LikeAGirl. Dir. Lauren Greenfield. Always, 26 June 2014. YouTube. Web. 25 Jan 2015.
Avenue, Madison. "Yes, Always's 'Like A Girl' Campaign Is Great- but it's Also Deceptive." The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company LLC, 30 June 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
Funk, Leah C., and Cherie D. Werhun. “You’re Such a Girl! The Psychological Drain of the Gender-Role Harassment of Men.” Sex Roles 65.1-2 (2011): 13-22. Web. 25 Jan 2015.
Isaacson, Melissa. “Why Mo’ne Davis’ Play Matters to Girls.” ESPN W. N.p., 17 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
Topol, Jill. “The Gender Bias World of Toys.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com Inc., 25 Dec. 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.
Vitelli, Romeo. "Television, Commercials, and Your Child." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 22 July 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.