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An Open Letter To Young Girls

Jun. 27, 2017
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Dear girls, 

I know when you were young, you were always the leader. Always the planner, the thinker, the creative director. I know you’d spend hours coloring inside the lines, and sometimes outside of them (with purpose). 

Dear girls,  

I know when you were young you’d go to soccer practice or basketball games, sweat dripping from your face as you were filled with an overwhelming sense of pride. I know you’d devise a plan before each game. Because you are leaders. 

Dear girls,

I know you’ve learned to point your toes until they start to break. I know you’ve smiled until your jaw is sore. I know every time you want to crack, to yell, to shout, to punch a wall, you take a breath and lead instead. 

Dear girls,

I know they sit there with their smug smiles, laugh at the way you say, “equal rights for all”. These were the same people you led years ago, the ones who did not question, but understood your skill. No one ever questioned the girl who could color in the lines and play basketball like a pro, until they decided that you couldn’t play on their team anymore. 

via: Tumblr

What they don’t know is that no amount of lipstick can hold the words back that you’ve been waiting to say for so long. You want your words to stick like hairspray and pierce their hearts, the same way you got your ears pierced when you were five. They tell you you’re too much of a girl, too weak of a girl, too fragile of a girl, but you can still color in the lines and play basketball like a pro. When they tell you you’re not enough of a girl because you don’t shave your legs and your hair is cut short, tell them to close their eyes and listen to your words, not your body, not your hair. Because nowhere in the definition of a leader are the words “physical appearance”. Never mind their opinion of yours. 

I know we watched the TV November 8th with hope in our hearts, that this woman, this leader, this intelligent person, would get what she’s been working for her whole life. Take this not as a failure, but as a push for womankind. For the words that Hillary spoke remind us all that we are valuable. That one day the girl who could recite all the state capitals in second grade, and was always the leader in group projects, can lead us all. 

That girl is inside of you. That girl is inside of all of us. For whoever we are and wherever we may be, we all have intelligent thoughts in our minds and a shared motivation to show the world, that women can, they always could, and always will be leaders. 

Dear girls, 

We must keep going. The only way to do that, is together. We are all stronger together. 


Sincerely, 

The words you’ve needed to hear.


Cover Image by Riley Halliday