In Praise of the Girls Who Do What They Love

We as young girls possess many hobbies - swimming, netball, drawing, music, the list goes on and on - but once the threshold from childhood to one’s teenage years inevitably occurs, where do all these passions disappear to?

Activities that used to bring us immense happiness, quickly abandoned for seemingly no particular reason. We drop them and never so much as look back, but do we ever ask ourselves why?

This is not a cautionary tale limited to a small pool of girls, it’s a phenomenon that lurks in the dark, moving toward you at a snail’s pace, that you don’t realise has got you ensnared in its powerful grasp until you are 16 and think where did all my interests go?

Once the inescapable teenage transformation occurs, it is as if everything you do, even just lifting a finger, could cause so much embarrassment you want the ground to open up and swallow you whole. Interests you once found belonging, comfort and community in have become so humiliating that you cannot bear to be associated with them, let alone seen or God forbid enjoying them!

Recently, I have begun questioning this undocumented occurrence: why do we as women give up what we love during these pivotal years? The explanation: misogyny, which lurks in the shadows of societal gaze, limiting teenage girls from pursuing the passions they have been shamed into giving up. Let’s make a list and play societal word association (in relation to girls’ interests).

Football = Masculine

Makeup = Vain

Drawing = Idle

Gymnastics = Hyper Sexualised

Do you see what I am getting at here...

I want to make it abundantly clear, I’m not saying boys get a free pass on embarrassment, but potential ridicule tends to rear its head when they take on something conventionally ‘feminine,’ like art. Whereas if they take up a traditionally male-dominated hobby like football, this potential for ridicule seems to amount to essentially nothing. And what’s the point of contention here? It clearly all circles back to the misogynistic ideas quietly stitched into our society.

Reflecting on how this silent killer affected me in my adolescence, I fear to admit I was a victim too.

When I was younger, I loved my hobbies, but the minute I got to secondary school, I cared a whole lot more about what people thought of me - especially boys. The hobbies that did survive the teenage cull were done in secret. I loved playing the piano, getting lost in the melodies and filling the house with music, but I was always too afraid to post a video of me playing, dreading the ridicule, imagining people watching and going:

“Ewwww, why would she post playing the piano? That is so cringe....”.

However, now that I am in my early twenties, I no longer carry this burden of potential shame.

Nowadays, I love sharing my hobbies and interests openly, because if someone would judge me for doing something I love, they’re not someone I’d want to associate with or have in my life. This is why I’ll always celebrate young girls and women who pursue what makes them happy. If you’re anything like me, it probably took you quite some time to reach a place where you felt confident enough to share these passions, so a little ego boost never hurts.

Gone are the days when I’d cringe at every interest I had. Our interests are what make us feel alive, what make us human. I want us women to embrace what we love, an act of quiet rebellion after spending so much of our adolescence hiding core parts of ourselves away.

So post your artwork, your writing, your singing, your running, anything that makes your life yours. Make it known everywhere, for all to see and celebrate, as the world is made richer by these talents being shared and appreciated.

So here is to a future built on actively Praising Girls Who Do What They Love. I know I will and I hope this inspires you to do the same.

Thank you for reading - Ali W x