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Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Girls, just be yourselves

I don’t like girls. It’s not a confession of sexual orientation. It’s just a fact. I don’t like their manipulative ways or their fake giggles or even the omnipresence of girl junk, such as make-up stains, errant fallen hairs and constant PMS excuses.

Let me clarify before I go on. I’ve been known to do the very things I loathe. But I lay it down beside a familiar excuse. “Boys will be boys” is not just a one-way street.

I grew up with four sisters, so it seemed a likely occurrence that I would enjoy the frou-frou side of life. But with great amusement, I have begged to differ from a young age.

Whether it was a 6-year-old me who refused dress up clothes at the grief of my older sister, Molly, or a 12-year-old me who threatened a boy with a canoe paddle in the face of a sexist taunt, I bucked the system.

I am a very selective person when it comes to my friends. I’ve had a handful of close friends who were girls, but along the way most of them have dropped by the wayside.

The friends who have been most consistent in my life have been boys. They have stayed with me longer, they’ve seen through my nonsense faster and their common sense has been invaluable in times of doubt.

I don’t like to hang out with guys because I think they’re dreamy or because I want to be one of them. I like to be with guys because at the end of the day they’re who they were at the beginning of the day. In a world where fake is fun, men are more likely to rely on honesty than their counterparts in the world. That honesty is something I’ve come to value above all else.

This isn’t about true girl hate. It’s about the lines we draw for ourselves as young women. You can keep your high heels, dislike of toads and hatred for sports metaphors.

But when guys say you are too girly, too scared or just don’t have the guts, step up. Be a friend, daughter, mother, wife and business woman worth respecting. Do your gender proud and break a cliché today.

Be honest. Be loud. Be real.

Be a baller.

Jayne McGaughey, a senior at Veritas Classical School, is an associate editor of the Teen Board.