I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out,
than the chances I didn't take at all."
Simone Biles
You go girl! Simone Biles is not only one fierce athlete, she's also a great role model for young girls about strength, commitment and passion. Remember
that famous Superbowl commercial in 2015 by Always that asked young people to do things “#LikeAGirl?”
The idea for that groundbreaking commercial was developed
after Fama Francisco, vice president of Always, and her colleagues analyzed
consumer research. They found that young women experience a significant drop
in self-confidence upon reaching puberty (Huffington Post, 2015).
The Always commercial was powerful for many reasons – not
only did it demonstrate the power of our words, but it also reminded us that
these types of messages are learned and internalized over time.
Young girls who were prompted with phrases such as “show me
what it means to run like a girl” demonstrated running as fast as they could –
they demonstrated actions with power, strength, and athleticism in every
prompt. However, older girls (and boys)
given the same prompts did not show the same enthusiasm, but instead showed comedic
attempts at completing the activities.
When femininity
becomes synonymous with weakness, embarrassment, and fragility, it is no wonder
Francisco and her team found these results among girls reaching what is commonly
regarded as a significant symbolic marker of “womanhood”.
As demonstrated through the commercial, these messages can
profoundly shape our perspectives on gender equality: when we treat girls and
women as if they are weak and fragile, we begin to believe that they are
inferior. And as this perspective becomes reinforced over time through social
norms and gendered expectations, violence against women and girls often becomes
normalized, excused, and justified.
Intimate partner violence occurs when one person has the
desire to gain or maintain power and control over their intimate partner.
While anyone can perpetrate or be a victim of intimate
partner violence, this issue disproportionately affects women and girls because
it is a manifestation of how, we as a society, view women and girls.
Ending relationship
violence in our community requires a strong commitment to challenging and
changing the social norms that allow relationship violence to continue.
In conjunction with Coaching Boys Into Men, Wellspring coordinates
a similar program for high school athletes on girls’ sports teams: Athletes As
Leaders aims to empower female-identified youth to take an active role in
promoting healthy relationships, build a positive culture within their team,
and end sexual violence. Throughout their season, athletes discuss the root
causes of violence and work to generate new social norms for their team, and
their school community.
Results from a national evaluation on the efficacy of
Athletes As Leaders are incredibly promising: after completion of the program,
participants showed statistically significant improvement in their ability to
identify abusive behaviors, improvement in their beliefs in gender equity, and
increased self-image and confidence.
“Girls are, and can
be, more than what stereotypes say.
You have a bigger
voice than you think.”
–Participant, Athletes As Leaders
Ending
relationship and sexual abuse starts with engaging our communities to change
what it means to do things #LikeAGirl.
