Three incredible minutes of girls demolishing gender-based stereotypes

By Sammy nickalls

July 8, 2015

By Sammy nickalls

July 8, 2015

How many times have you felt limited as a girl? Women have to face stereotypes from the moment they take their first breath. Whether it’s being forced to wear pink or being told that girls are weak, gender-based limitations are everywhere — and that’s exactly what feminine care company Always took to task in their latest #LikeAGirl advertisement entitled “Unstoppable.” Sure, it’s an ad; but it’s also a seriously inspirational and badass vid.

The video, which was posted yesterday, has over 2 million views. It starts out with a simple question directed towards several girls of all ages: “Have you ever been told because you’re a girl that you should not do something?”

“All the time,” one girl answers in the video. “It’s a constant.”

“People think that girls are supposed to be all happy, la-dee-dah, ya know?” another girl points out.

One girl totally shatters our hearts by responding, “I can’t really like . . . rescue anybody. It’s always like, the boys who rescue the girls in the stories.”

Unsurprisingly, the girls in the video are not alone. A whopping 72% of girls feel society limits them, according to a 2015 survey Always conducted among woman. That’s exactly why the girls in the video were given a big white box and were asked to write down their limitations in marker. And they’re all sentiments we can totally relate to. “Girls should be perfect,” reads one box. “Weak,” reads another. “Girls aren’t strong.” “Can’t be brave.” “Girls can’t rescue.” All untrue sentiments, but all limitations that exist in today’s society.

As Always points out, when a girl hits puberty, her confidence is more likely to plummet which, by extension, makes her more likely to accept those limitations. “I started holding back, not trying things out as much, and just . . . it limited who I was,” one girl explains. Another said that she quit wrestling, playing trumpet, and playing basketball.

“I told myself that I should stop if I’m not good,” one little girl says. “[But] I proved them wrong by trying harder to get better.”

When they were asked what they wanted to do with the boxes, the unanimous decision was to destroy them. YAAAS. It is so unbelievably empowering to watch these girls kick over towers of limitations that society has constructed.

“I think that you need to keep going with whatever you love to do and do anything you want, conquer any fear you’ve had, and just live your dream and do whatever you want to do,” one girl concludes in the video. “That’s why I love the word ‘unstoppable.’”

We love that word, too. Thanks, Always, for keeping it real while providing us some seriously amazing inspiration and willpower to shatter gender stereotypes. Participate in the #LikeAGirl movement by using the hashtag while explaining what makes YOU unstoppable. Because you absolutely, unequivocally are.

Check out the entire video below and be prepared to be totally empowered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhB3l1gCz2E