Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Girls and Boys




Sexism is a social disease ~ Author Unknown

Both my kids are athletes. Pretty good ones if you ask me.

Dylan plays lacrosse. He works hard and spends time practicing. When he’s home you can find him in the yard, throwing his ball against the garage wall and catching it or practicing shots on goal. He signs up for every clinic and off-season skills training he can. Recently, he has been studying how others play by watching college and professional games on television and further developing his lacrosse IQ. It helps that he lives with a walking lacrosse encyclopedia. Hint, it’s not me.

His sport takes a toll on his body. He is a walking bruise. Honestly, he looks like he gets beat with a metal pole. This week he’s nursing a pretty bad sprained foot but he loves lacrosse and he’s good at it so he deals with the physical pain. I like that he has a healthy balance between his work ethic and his play ethic.

Emma is a dancer. She works hard and spends hours practicing. When she’s not in the studio dancing, she’s home dancing or stretching or doing crunches. She is pathological in her pursuit of her goals. She is also a walking bruise. Her shoulder always looks raw and painful and on certain days her knees look purple; the consequences of throwing herself on hard floors 5 days a week.

Where Dylan is an athlete and a good one, Emma is a warrior. Her dedication and work ethic have taken her beyond her natural talent.

It’s why I get so incredibly ticked off when I hear “girl” being used as an insult. A derogatory remark.  You know what I’m talking about: “You look like a bunch of girls out there.” “You throw like a girl.” “Don’t be a Nancy.” Gah, drives me freaking crazy. Crazy!

Listen closely since I’m only going to say it once.

Being a girl is not a handicap.

Girl is not the inferior version of boy.

It is not an insult.

So zip it. If a man can’t perform to a certain standard set by men in manly pursuits, don’t call him a girl. Seriously. Don’t.

Think before you talk. Words have meaning. They shape people and they can hurt. Regardless of if you mean it or not, casual sexism is still sexism and it makes an impact on real actual people. This kind of demeaning rhetoric has no place in our lives. Ever.

Girls and boys are different. There is no doubt in my mind. This difference is not because of gender but rather because they are individuals. Different experiences create different outcomes. Each person develops individually. Each person is different.

Boy is not inherently better than girl.  So stop making girl an insult when a boy doesn’t measure up.

Stop it.

It makes me angry.

Don't make me angry; you wouldn’t like me when I’m  angry.

Seriously.





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