Misogyny Essay: Jennifer Lawrence, The Ultimate Real Girl

I’m sure a lot of us have, or have had that “I’m not like other girls” mindset. “I like pizza and fart jokes and reading and drinking tea,” we say to ourselves. We’re real.

But what is so wrong with being like other girls? If you don’t like pizza or Netflix, does that make you not real? Are women who like salads and going out a night not real? Are they not complicated human beings like the rest of us? Do they not deserve the same respect?

Who determines what “real” means? And why is it just a desired trait for women to have?

There have been endless female celebrities who have been lauded for being “real,” such as Jennifer Lawrence, the ultimate Real Girl. People fawn over them for being different and relatable and cool. That’s fine and

Don’t we realize that we’re tearing each other down? When we’re applying for a job, aren’t we competing with everyone, not just other women? Why even is there this competition?

Two words: Internalized misogyny.

It’s really not our faults. Because whether we were aware of it or not, ever since we were kids, we’ve been taught that being a woman is bad. We’re too emotional, too superficial, too fragile to succeed. When little girls misbehave, they are punished for not being “ladylike.” But when boys do the same, it’s just “boys being boys.” Has a boy ever been told what they’re doing is not “gentleman-like?” Is that even a thing? (If not, can we start that?)

We’re seen as dumb, delicate bimbos who will never be as good as men.

And that’s why to get any respect, many women feel like they have to basically detach themselves from the female gender. They have to not act in any way that’s stereotypically associated with being a woman. We’re not allowed to like healthy food or exercising because it suggests we’re too focused on our weight and that’s vain. We can’t like makeup because that’s shallow and it means we’re insecure or hiding something. We can’t like partying because it means we’re hedonistic and have no real goals. We have to be into things guys like because then they’ll actually respect us. We have to like video games, comic books, sex jokes and dont forget, we can’t be too emotional. Then we’ll be Not Like Other Girls and become a

They should be everyone’s things (in fact, adult women now make up the largest demographic of gamers. So there). And why is it so bad to like things that are typically associated with women? Is someone who likes to go out somehow less smart or “real” than you are? How do you know they’re not also a book nerd who loves Harry Potter? And so what if they’re not? You can’t define someone’s character by their interests or hobbies. That would be the ultimate superficial thing to