The last time I gave any great thought to a maxi pad
commercial was when I wondered who the hell they thought they were fooling with
that blue liquid shit. Let’s be honest ladies: Nothing. Like. That. Then today
all over my Facebook news feed (which is where I get all my news in Sri Lanka)
my friends were posting this advert from Always. It features some young women
and a boy at a casting call where the director instructs them all to do things ‘like
a girl’. Fight like a girl, run like a girl, throw like a girl…you get it.
Anyway, many people thought that this advert was really poignant and I suppose it is, but mostly it's just more bad news for women.
These young women in the commercial who when asked to do things 'like a girl' threw pathetically and ran ungracefully
whilst fixing their hair are old enough to know better. The little boy is not,
so I’ll cut him some slack. Years from now his parents will play that commercial
at his wedding and he will be doubly mortified that he a) was in a commercial
for maxi pads and b) that he was a sexist prick.
I digress…these young women in their 20’s and 30’s, when
asked to throw ‘like a girl’ threw nothing like they would throw. They threw
the way someone in a full body cast would throw. When the director explained to
these women that they were doing themselves a disservice and asked them if they’d
like to try again; they all jumped at the opportunity and even went on to make
bold statements like ‘why can’t running like a girl win the race?’ Well, it
can. Why do we as women need someone's permission to be strong? To be sexy? To be who we really are?
The whole point of this campaign is to empower young women to keep
throwing and fighting and running like girls. The commercial states that
between the ages of 10 and 12 most girls lose their confidence and are already
feeling undervalued in their tiny social realms as well as in the bigger world.
So why then do we continue to lose confidence even when we’re old enough to
know better?
In this commercial, when the director later asked a group of
7-10 year olds to do the same actions ‘like a girl’ they all kicked major ass.
They all fought strong, ran fast and threw straight. Being a girl is not a
handicap and at 10 years old we know that, but at 25 we have no clue. Did we
forget? Or are we just conditioned to become caricatures of ourselves? I have a
vagina and I am a perfectly capable human being. I can do anything you can do
and I do it ‘like a person’.
So who is this advert targeting? It’s targeting women. Those
10-year-olds aren't buying maxi pads. It’s targeting us women who have no idea
that running like a girl is just regular fucking running. The same women that
believe their vaginas spout blue liquid once a month. We need to recognize that
this is a problem. We are selling ourselves short every day. We can physically and
mentally do everything anyone else can do, but if we don’t believe this
ourselves how the hell are we going to fight for the big stuff like equal pay
and better benefits? Do we think we don’t deserve these things? My genitalia is
not a determining factor as to whether or not I'm good at anything. Except
maybe having a penis. My vagina means I'm really bad at that.
The reality that some women still see themselves as less than
just because of their gender is so sad. And that fact is put under the spotlight
in this advert. All these fabulous little girls reminding us of who we once
were are great, but the tragedy is that many of us have become these young women
who have no idea who we are. A maxi pad
commercial is not inspirational. You are. Now go fight this busted-ass system like
a girl.
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