Why Always' #LikeAGirl Campaign is Empowering to Young Women
by Tracy Yu
A new video was recently released by Always in an effort to increase girls’ and young women’s confidence by encouraging them to keep playing sports. The video, released just before the start of the Olympics, could not have come at a better time. Always Associate Director at Procter & Gamble, Michele Baeten, says that “The Olympic Games are a time when – all around the world - female sports participation is elevated in the public eye [so there is no] better moment to drive awareness of the critical role sports play in building girls’ confidence [than now].”
A young girl starts off the video by saying that “a lot of boys have told [her] that [she] can’t play rugby because [she’s] a girl.” As a result of comments like this, 7 out of 10 girls feel they do not belong in sports and more than half of girls will have quit sports by the end of puberty. Always seeks to keep girls playing because sports are exactly what help raise girls’ confidence. In fact, a recent 2015 US consumer data study by NHCS proves that women from the ages of 18 to 24 are twice as likely to be confident if they play sports as compared to girls who do not play at all.
The video, directed by Nanette Burstein, is actually part of a larger campaign aimed a redefining the phrase “like a girl,” replacing the negative, insulting connotation with empowering positivity. The first #LikeAGirl video featured a cast of men and women who were asked to describe what they thought the phrase “like a girl” meant. Most of them flailed their arms and stumbled around when asked to run “like a girl” or throw “like a girl,” proving how society has gradually turned the phrase “like a girl” into an insult meant for the weak. But when young girls were asked the same question by the video’s director, Lauren Greenfield, they ran powerfully and strongly. One of these young girls even says that “[run like a girl] means run as fast as you can.” Another girl simply asks “why can’t run like a girl also mean win the race?” Always’ campaign turns the phrase “like a girl” into a compliment and empowers young girls and women by telling them that “[they are] girl[s] and that is not something that [they] should be ashamed of.”
Watch the very first #LikeAGirl video below: