What does it mean to be a girl?
I googled the definition of girl and received many offensive and rude definitions. To be a girl should mean you are seen as an equal and treated as an equal. I often read books that say, "without men you wouldn't have any rights!" But actually, without men I wouldn't have to fight for them. Someone once told me, and I quote, "men did give women the right to vote." Men should have never been at such a social and political advantage as to literally give and take away rights from people. It shouldn't be a fight for equality. An English professor decided to run a question by his students, he wrote the statement, "a woman without her man is nothing." He then asked his students to punctuate it correctly. A male student came up and wrote down "A woman, without her man, is nothing." Then sat back down. A girl then came up and wrote down the sentence, "a woman: without her, man is nothing." The professor seemed pleased with himself. Both statements are correctly punctuated but the use of the punctuation makes neither sentence fair to side with. As dress codes become stricter and stricter for women it makes me wonder if men can't control themselves in the presence of women why are the allowed to control entire nations? Our nations girl specifically struggle for many reasons, like stereotypes, unreachable beauty standards, but also because they actually stop believing in themselves by age 10. Heidi Grant Halverson says, "bright girls believe their abilities are innate and unchangeable." Many girls love math and science throughout elementary school but tend to change their paths throughout middle school. Why? Because we teach them that they can't. From babies to elderly we are constantly telling them who they can and can't be like. For example, Barbie is a blonde, skinny, tall, white girl. I can't say that's a great example for girls. Then throughout elementary school we include them in everything. "Come help me with this science project!" 
"Come do this problem on the board!" And somehow when they get to middle school they decide maybe they don't want to become a scienctist. They are learning about Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, J.F.K, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Muhammad Ali, Charles Darwin, Mozart, to Beethoven, to ALL of the presidents, what example are we giving them, who are they without a role model. This year I learned about Gandhi next year I'm going to learn about George Washington, when am I going to learn about Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Cleopatra, Anne Frank, Malala. We need these examples in our daily lives. If you want smart girls inspire them. Next, for every dollar a man get a women gets 78 cents. If we work equally hard at the same job shouldn't we get equal pay. It limits women's abilities. We shouldn't have this gap of money separating the men from the women. Would it destroy the company to give every woman 12 more cents. No. In conclusion, I think both genders are very strong and powerful, but we shouldn't be defined by that. You shouldn't be a certain way because you are a lady, and you most certainly shouldn't be a certain way if your a man. I think, yes, right now we are far from being equal but still little changes, like introducing women into more assignments, or lessons could really have a positive impact on women, and reminding young girls what it means to be a girl. Telling them what we tell everyone else. You can do it. Because being a girl is a privilege. I am proud to be who I am and I am proud to be a girl.