On October 27, President Barack Obama honored the U.S. women’s World Cup champion soccer team at the White House. The President talked about how the team took their victory with a lot of class and how they inspired the youth of America.

“This team taught all [of] America’s children that playing like a girl means you’re a badass; perhaps I shouldn’t have used that phrase. Playing like a girl means being the best.” These great words from our president set off a roar of applause throughout the White House and it relit the fire that was suddenly becoming faint in the soul and confidence in the young women and  girls of America.

I grew up with three older brothers; they never told me that I threw like a girl or that I was soft, but sometimes they would tell me to stop acting like a girl. How do I stop acting like a girl if I am one? When did doing something “like a girl” become an insult?

Honestly, the sports that perform the best at Stamford High School are all of our women’s sports. Is that my opinion? Yes it is, but it is also the truth. What is also the truth is that they all play like girls – they all play with confidence and heart and they give everything they have in every single game that they play. They never back down from a fight; they play until the very end of every game, and no one can stop them.

Tiana England is one of our best athletes and she dominates the basketball court. I’m pretty positive that everyone wishes they could play basketball the way she does. Take a look at our fall sports: our field hockey team won the city championship this year, and our volleyball team is in states (and they are savages on the court, showing no mercy). And for all you male athletes out there, don’t be salty at the fact that we women athletes are doing much better than you.

When someone says that you do something “like a girl,” they are assuming that you are weak, soft or even sometimes incapable of doing whatever it is that you are doing. However, the question that is still being tossed around is what does it mean to do something like a girl? I believe that doing something “like a girl” means doing something with confidence, being fierce and courageous. It means standing up and defending everything that you stand for as a woman, never backing down, getting up off the floor when you’ve been knocked down and dusting yourself off so you can get back to conquering the world as a strong woman.

Yes, I am a girl; I cry, I hurt and I am insecure, but that does not make me weak – it makes me human. Some may find it insulting when someone tells them that they do something like a girl, but I have come to the conclusion that if anyone tells you that you do something like a girl, you should shake their hand and thank them for giving you the greatest compliment ever.