Just a Girl?
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If you are on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, (or any social media forum, really) or have friends who are, you undoubtedly have heard the phrase, “I’m just a girl.” This is often said after someone (a woman) answers a question wrong in class or on a test. I have repeatedly heard (and said), “Of course I have to spend money on a sweet treat: I’m just a girl!” I have heard this phrase after a failed parking job and from a friend asking, “How can I be expected to work? I’m just a girl!” This catchall phrase phenomenon is used by women to excuse a mistake or just for folly. I did not think too much of it at first (as a big proponent of the “ I’m just a girl” movement) until I noticed men starting to use the phrase as well, and I wondered at the fact that we have started to label frivolity, shallowness, and stupidity (stereotypes that previous generations took great effort in disproving) as ‘girlish’ traits. And, sure, the phrase “I’m just a girl” is reminiscent of “boys will be boys.” But I would like us to remember that the latter in recent years has come under fire for excusing irresponsible or even dangerous behavior. Yet, “I’m just a girl” is a reasonable rationalization for imprudent mistakes?
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Additionally, pictures and videos accompanied by the caption, “I’m just a girl,” feature pastels, bows, and innocent shrugs. Further satirizing women as sweet and docile is perhaps more regressive than we would care to admit. Further generalizing all women as like-minded is reductionist.
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Saying, “I’m just a girl,” after a mistake or when asked to complete a task (whether for work or school), is like asking to not be taken seriously. And while “boys will be boys” may be a common saying (whether currently controversial or not), there is no trend of men referring to themselves as frivolous and dumb. No, instead, they wish, “they were girls,” so they could blame everything on their gender, or they don’t wish it, they just say it (a trend on the rise that drew me to think deeper about this one).
Image Courtesy: TikTok @SodAkhtar
Again, there’s nothing wrong with poking fun at oneself, but in labeling mistakes as the consequence of one’s gender, we are attributing irresponsibility and stupidity to women, in addition to lacking any sort of irony when uttering the phrase. No, instead of ironically poking fun at stereotypes we encounter, we trivialize our responsibilities and follies and reject responsibility. At what point does this trivialization of one's habits or mistakes bleed into the trivialization of the individual accomplishments, strides, and hard work of women? At what point does one begin to directly contribute to the caricaturing of women as foolish, impulsive, and ridiculous? Are we really so privileged that we are comfortable disregarding the toils and troubles women faced until recently? Are we so disenchanted with generations past’s accomplishments that we refer to ourselves as lesser because of our gender? But then again, what do I know, I’m just a girl!
Strike Out,
Jenny Miller
University of Notre Dame
