Womxn// Yes, I am a girl.

By Lauren Barclay
17 October 2020

Growing up over the years, I, like many other girls, have had the comment ‘but you’re just a girl’ thrown at me in all sorts of scenarios:

Playing a sport,

Climbing a tree, 

Lifting something heavy, 

You get the idea...

The term ‘girl’ has become a derogatory term used to describe a person when they do something that isn't stereotypically associated with woman-ness. For example, in this instance, being a ‘girl’ makes playing football, getting muddy, or liking science surprising and unusual activities. 

Growing up in an all-girls school, luckily for me this term wasn't something that I heard very often. If I wanted to play football, I could play football. If I wanted to be a scientist, well there was no reason I couldn't be. And for this I am very grateful. This, however, didn’t mean that I wasn't told these things in the outside world. 

Sadly, as we know, across the world, gender is holding people back, especially girls--

Education. 

Underage and forced marriage.

Period poverty. 

Street Harassment. 

And much more.

All problems, faced by girls across the world. In numbers you wouldn't believe: 

41,000 girls are forced into marriage every day. 

70,000 girls die in labour every year because their bodies aren't ready for childbirth.

15 million girls will never have the opportunity to learn to read and write in primary school. 

Two-thirds of the illiterate people in the world are female.

In the UK, one-in-ten girls have been unable to afford sanitary wear.

66% of girls in the UK have experienced unwanted sexual attention or unwanted sexual or physical contact in a public place.

[These statistics are taken from the Plan UK website, https://plan-uk.org]

These numbers are shocking, but what is important to remember is that behind every statistic is a human being, a person struggling with this problem. Whilst some of these issues are going to take time, resources and a lot of education to fix, there are things that we can begin to do right here and now. 

Start Something.

Look up your local Red Box project or a similar scheme near you. These schemes work at tackling period poverty by providing those struggling with the cost of sanitary products. 

Donate to them, or even set up your own scheme at your school or work place. It isn't difficult: get a small box or basket in the bathrooms, and ask people to donate sanitary products to it. 

http://redboxproject.org/about/

Campaign.

Recently I joined Plan International UK as a member of the youth advisory panel. I will be working with a panel of amazing young people, bringing the problems like those I have spoken about to light. Over the next year, we will be working on campaigns on these areas, highlighting the difficulties that girls across the world face, and campaigning for change. You too can campaign for change; there are many organisations like Plan that you can get involved with.

Educate. 

Whilst you cannot change the world around you overnight, every little step in the right direction makes a change. Run an assembly, start up a conversation or even just share a tweet sharing these issues with the world. Every little bit of education you can give, share or take in will help make a difference to change attitudes and behaviours of those around you. 

And next time someone tells you ‘But you’re just a girl’.

Take pride in telling them ‘Yes, I am a girl’.

Because, girls, you should never be afraid of being who you are.

Lauren is 22 years old and, for the past 11 years of her life has been highly involved with activism, from youth voice, to raising money and awareness for various charities. She currently lives in Greater Manchester, where she works as a youth worker part time, alongside her charity, activism and writing work. She aspires to work as a Broadcast journalist, and will be continuing her studies towards this in the future. Outside of this, she is a competitive rower at Agecroft Rowing club, where she also coaches juniors in the sport. Her other hobbies include singing in the Manchester Mental Health Choir, and other outdoor activities such as walking and cycling.