Always Like a Girl

Jul 01

Always Like a Girl

Procter & Gamble’s Always feminine hygiene brand is running #LikeAGirl, an online campaign challenging damaging stereotypes often applied to adolescent girls. The campaign suggests that using #LikeAGirl as an insult is a hard knock against any adolescent girl. And since the rest of puberty’s really no picnic either, it’s easy to see what a huge impact it can have on a girl’s self-confidence. P&G hopes to use the #LikeaGirl hashtag as a positive tribute to the power of women, so that running like a girl or throwing like a girl is seen as a compliment.

The #LikeAGirl social experiment recruited real women, men and pre-pubescent girls and asked them to show our cameras what it physically meant to run like a girl, throw like a girl and other similar actions. The young, pre-pubescent girls performed these actions confidently and proudly; older women and men performed these actions in a self–deprecating and frivolous manner. It became clear that at a certain point in life, women begin to internalize the negative connotations of assertions that she does things “like a girl”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

“In my work as a documentarian, I have witnessed the confidence crisis among girls and the negative impact of stereotypes first-hand,” said Lauren Greenfield, filmmaker and director of the #LikeAGirl video. “When the words ‘like a girl’ are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering. I am proud to partner with Always to shed light on how this simple phrase can have a significant and long-lasting impact on girls and women. I am excited to be a part of the movement to redefine ‘like a girl’ into a positive affirmation.”

The #LikeAGirl campaign is centred on a microsite, Twitter and Facebook campaign. Women are invited to post pics and posts reflecting on the strengths of living #likeagirl.