Superbowl

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For many decades the trope “like a girl” has been highly analyzed and debated. Starting in 1980 with political philosopher Iris Marion Young’s essay “Throwing Like a Girl” and most recently in the feminine care product company, Always’s “#LikeAGirl” campaign, which debuted during the 2015 Superbowl, this phrase’s origin, usage, and implications have been explored and argued. It is my goal to further unpack this trite expression by discrediting some of the theories proposed in the past as well as formulating my own based on my understanding of language and gender studies. To begin, the first question we must ask is what does it mean “to throw”? The Merriam-Webster dictionary first defines its as “to propel through the air by a forward motion…show more content…
Aside from reproductive structures and organs, boys and girls are anatomically incredibly similar. Many people, however, think that rotator cuffs or shoulder joints form differently for each sex, which is why the two throwing styles evolved. If you actually examine the joints or ask an anatomist, there is no variance. That being so, there is no structural reason for the styles differing by sex. Another theory, this one originally put forth by Young, attributes the disparate techniques to differences in clothing. Stereotypically, we allow boys to wear shorts and pants, both of which allow for greater separation of the legs in what we think of as a socially acceptable manner. Girls, on the other hand, especially before and during the era Young grew up in, typically wore skirts or dresses all the time. Though they are physically less restrictive than pants, social convention does not approve of women expressing that freedom. An example would be women riding a horse sidesaddle rather than straddling the horse as a man would do. If the difference in throwing styles evolved because girls were used to wearing skirts, we would notice the disparities disappear in the last couple decades as the custom of girls wearing pants and shorts has become more prevalent. The release of the Always commercial this past year, which documents pre and post pubescent girls throwing “like a girl”, proves that there still remains…show more content…
I believe that she is right, but for the wrong reasons. The Always #LikeAGirl campaign was meant to serve as a turning point in the discussion of what it meant to do something “like a girl”. While it ultimately put a positive spin on the phrase and aims to change its meaning so that it reflects power, effectiveness, and confidence, the commercial alone is not enough to change an entire society’s understanding. People like Mo’ne Davis, the first girl in Little League World Series history to earn a win and to pitch a shutout, are disproving the original perception of throwing like a girl is, but unfortunately she is a minority in terms of girls that can throw effectively. Ultimately, it is our decision to choose whether we want the phrase to have a positive or negative connotation, but the argument does not hinge on throwing technique. Rather, it depends on if we are going to perpetuate the idea that girls must sit with crossed legs, be respectful and subservient to men, and focus on meek and homely things. At the end of the day, throwing “like a girl” is simply a social construct based on appearance and performance. It is, however, more than a phrase, but an example of how embodiment that is tangible and visible influences subjectivity and
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