Girl Power!

I love the phrase, "Girl Power!!" When I hear someone shout, "Girl Power!" (okay, it's usually me), I instantly think of cute cartoony girls, dressed in various shades of pink, jumping in the air, waving their pom-poms and cheering. It makes me so happy! They're just so cute! It kind of reminds me of my Gmail theme, "Candy," which has cute little cartoon girls eating candy and smiling. The colors are teal and pink and I'm pretty sure the "i" in in Gmail is dotted with a heart. Occasionally, you can see the redheaded candy girl (when the screen is wide enough) and then I get super excited/happy. OMG, I sound so creepy right now.

Anyway, back to Girl Power. I also love saying it because it's cheesy. I mean, really. Who actually says, "Girl Power!" and means it? Who can take that phrase seriously? Who doesn't think of little cartoon girls flying through the air with streaks of color behind them when they hear girls shout, "Girl Power!"? It is hilarious. And SO CHEESY.

But here's the thing. My favorite part of saying, "Girl Power!" is that I mean it. Over the years, I have participated in coed sports (sailing in college and more recently, beach volleyball) and I work in the (still) somewhat male-dominated field of SCIENCE. There's nothing that I love more than being paired up with the smallest girl on the team and then kicking some boys' asses. And then shouting, "Girl Power!" Sometimes I say it before so that it disarms the boys into thinking we're stupid girls who don't stand a chance. If I'm on the volleyball court, I jump up in the air, throw my arms up and kick my feet while I cheer it. It really adds to the effect. And then we dominate the boys.

I don't mean this in some weird man-hating feminist way. It's just that sometimes I feel underestimated as a woman. I kind of envision "Girl Power!" as a way of saying, "In your FACE! You totally underestimated us because we are girls. HA!" Only it's a little bit nicer and funnier and it makes me smile.

Consequently, I also love the phrase, "You go, girl!" and try to use it as often as possible.