I am a lawyer

 When I was a little girl, I was continuously told “you should be a lawyer when you grow up”. Now as an adult, I realize that that was a socially accepted way to call a little girl a bitch. Something many women and girls can relate to how assertiveness, intelligence, or even just speaking up is often misread or coded negatively, especially in girls. The “you should be a lawyer” comment, though seemingly a compliment, carries an undercurrent of mockery or discomfort with a young girl’s strength cloaking a dismissal in a socially palatable phrase.

    •    Why is the confidence of little girls treated as a threat?

    •    What does it mean when language like that becomes praise only when directed at boys?

    •    What do we lose when girls are taught to water themselves down so early?