Like A Girl...

Always #LikeAGirl is one of the female empowerment ad that has grown viral and I loved the way its shown, as I can so relate to it. 

It reminds me of an incident happened with me when I was young. I have an elder brother and I would always try to tag along with him wherever he went. I tried to play with his friends, go on picnics with his friends, in fact, my Mom used to sometimes make me wear his clothes after he had out grown them. So basically, between boys, I used to consider myself one of them. Girl yet not girl like. 

When I reached that adolescent age and started growing physically like a girl, someone made a first comment - " Richa, you look like a girl" and at that time, I was confused.  Basically, I did not like it. No, I am not like a girl. I thought. I am strong like boys. So yes, 'like a girl' was an insult to me. I was little ashamed of myself. I had started doing things more like boys. Rather copying them. It surely had a huge impact on my self confidence. 

While playing table tennis, someone would shout " Richa, don't play like a girl", while running, someone would shout "Richa, don't run like a girl, run fast" , "Richa, don't cry like a girl, be a sport" and so on...

It was only later, much much later, did I understand...I do things like a girl, because I am a girl. And I am amazing.  I am tough, I have a heart, I am talented, I am gutsy and I am absolutely proud of who I am. I do things, the way I would do things.

And as the girl rightly said in the ad" If somebody else says that running like a girl or kicking like a girl or shooting like a girl is something that you shouldn't be doing, that's their problem, because if you are still scoring, still getting evolved with time, and you are still being first, you are doing it right, doesn't matter what they say"