Here’s Why You Should Stop Telling Me I Am ‘Not Like Most Girls’

If you listen to Hailee Steinfeld’s song, ‘Most Girls’, you will know that when people tell you that you’re not like most girls, it’s really not a compliment. Let’s face it girls – this is one of the most-used statement by men, who feel that we’re actually going to be happy knowing we’re different. Personally, I love how Steinfeld has rubbished a statement like this because no two women are the same. And most girls are indeed strong, beautiful and fight to make their presence felt in the world.  

When someone says, ‘I am not like most girls’, they are putting other women down and for me, the sisterhood matters more than someone stereotyping an entire gender and putting me on this artificial pedestal. Women just like men have different identities. Some of us like to wear glasses and read all day while others like to socialize. Some of us like to wait for ‘the one’ while others like to explore! You can’t put us in a box, and you sure as hell can’t generalize us!

For all those girls who like to read in their spare time, here is a book (Rs 88) that you will love!

By saying this, you’re actually taking away that one thing we have been trying to have people believe for the longest time. That we all are indeed different. Just because someone nagged you once in a relationship, you can’t be expecting every other woman to treat you the same way. So, telling us that we’re not like most girls is quite an insult if you actually think about it. For any one quality that a woman has, her friend might have the exact opposite. And we are not just ovaries and hormones, a lot of us are the people we are because we have distinct tastes from life experiences – from the books we have read, the films we have watched, the places we have travelled to. Whenever you make this futile comparison, you take away from women who have hustled hard to achieve something in life.

And for the others who like to party, here is a pretty dress (Rs 499) that will make heads turn!

Women shouldn’t be pitted against each other because in many ways we are each other’s’ biggest source of support. And neither does it speak very highly of you, if that is the best compliment you choose to pay any of us. So, for the next time, pretty please, just don’t.  Because we’re too strong to be contained by a single stereotype!

Thanks for listening,

Yours truly,

A girl just like every other girl

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