For many decades the trope “like a girl” has been highly analyzed and debated. Starting in 1980 with political philosopher Iris Marion Young’s essay “Throwing Like a Girl” and most recently in the feminine care product company, Always’s “#LikeAGirl” campaign, which debuted during the 2015 Superbowl, this phrase’s origin, usage, and implications have been explored and argued. It is my goal to further unpack this trite expression by discrediting some of the theories proposed in the past as well as formulating my own based on my understanding of language and gender studies.
To begin, the first question we must ask is what does it mean “to throw”? The Merriam-Webster dictionary first defines it as “to propel through the air by a forward motion …show more content…
I propose (as did Young) social conditioning, the sociological process of training individuals to respond in what is deemed a socially acceptable manner. Resulting from patriarchy, men for years had power over women (Young 1980). Women’s freedom and motion were restricted (Young 1980). We can see that in the use of corsets and hair spray. A better example, however, is how we teach girls to sit. By instructing them to cross their legs, we teach them to minimize the space they physically take up and the impact they make (1980). Boys, on the other hand, are taught to sit with wide-set legs and impose their presence (1980). This social conditioning, I believe, can affect people on a subconscious level. That could explain why girls when throwing keep their legs closer together, restrain their arm motion by not fully extending and following through, and cut their rotations short. In addition, I have observed that girls are typically given less opportunities to work on throwing. We stereotypically assume that the father should play catch with his son, that boys should toss rocks and pine cones on playgrounds, and girls should play “house”. The Always commercial asserts that “a girl’s confidence plummets during puberty”. From analyzing the advertisement, it is clear to see the distinction between the modes in which pre and post pubescent girls throw. I believe that if girls were only given the same instruction and practice and they were not taught to restrain themselves in feminine fashion from a young age, then there would be no difference in throwing like a boy or throwing like a girl. It would just be called
To begin, the first question we must ask is what does it mean “to throw”? The Merriam-Webster dictionary first defines it as “to propel through the air by a forward motion …show more content…
I propose (as did Young) social conditioning, the sociological process of training individuals to respond in what is deemed a socially acceptable manner. Resulting from patriarchy, men for years had power over women (Young 1980). Women’s freedom and motion were restricted (Young 1980). We can see that in the use of corsets and hair spray. A better example, however, is how we teach girls to sit. By instructing them to cross their legs, we teach them to minimize the space they physically take up and the impact they make (1980). Boys, on the other hand, are taught to sit with wide-set legs and impose their presence (1980). This social conditioning, I believe, can affect people on a subconscious level. That could explain why girls when throwing keep their legs closer together, restrain their arm motion by not fully extending and following through, and cut their rotations short. In addition, I have observed that girls are typically given less opportunities to work on throwing. We stereotypically assume that the father should play catch with his son, that boys should toss rocks and pine cones on playgrounds, and girls should play “house”. The Always commercial asserts that “a girl’s confidence plummets during puberty”. From analyzing the advertisement, it is clear to see the distinction between the modes in which pre and post pubescent girls throw. I believe that if girls were only given the same instruction and practice and they were not taught to restrain themselves in feminine fashion from a young age, then there would be no difference in throwing like a boy or throwing like a girl. It would just be called