I always love watching the Super Bowl. I enjoy seeing my husband really get into the game and I enjoy all the entertainment and commercials that come along with the game. This year, the “like a girl” commercial really affected me. My sister-in-law emailed the commercial to me earlier and it really made me very emotional. It upset me.

The premise of the commercial is some adults and a little boy are asked to run, fight and throw “like a girl”. Of course they perform these tasks in the wimpiest way, hence “like a girl” is basically used like an insult!  The punchline is that the same task is asked of a bunch of little girls and they just gave it their all! Just like my daughter would. They ran, fought and threw with a mighty force. There was nothing wimpy about these little girls. “Because throwing “like a girl” is the same as throwing like a person, right?” says one little girl.

On a day that glorifies masculine athleticism, Proctor & Gamble made viewers consider female strength. It’s important that we as parents remember to use the phrase “like a girl” with power and strength. Women are the ones that carry and nourish a child in their bodies for months. We are the ones that give birth to them and many of us single-handedly raise them. If that is not strength then what is? We have to make sure that we don’t put our girls in a category that makes them feel weak and passive. We’ve got to encourage them to celebrate the unique aspects of femininity. Girls should see themselves as designed and valued by God and savor their femininity as their strength, not a flaw. We parents, both mother’s and father’s are the ones that have to empower our little girls to grow up to become strong, capable and confident women.

Like the commercial says, let’s make “like a girl” mean amazing things! Just like Malala.