I adore Girls on the Run. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s so true.
You can read all about who Girls on the Run is, and what they do, on their website. But basically, they empower and encourage young girls. So, when I saw they needed help with a 5k, I absolutely had to make it one of my 52 volunteer activities for the year!
When we got to check off what area we’d like to work in, I was a bit hesitant about working in the Happy Hair Station. I thought, “here I am trying to empower girls and show them they can be strong and awesome. They can be anything they want! Now how do I show that? Oh right, I do their hair!” [Wah wah]
Does that go against what we’re trying to do here? Or is it all just innocent fun? I feel like a pretty empowered woman who’s overall pretty confident – at least when it comes to what I can accomplish in this world, and what I push myself to go after. But I love being called adorable! And I like putting my hair in pigtails and wearing pink and all that jazz.
And there’s nothing wrong with that, right? Or is there? Have I just been programmed by society to think I like this stuff, but if I’d had different impressions from the media, would I have a different sense of what I like?
Maybe that doesn’t matter so much. Because perhaps the point is, if I like a style I like it and it’s not even necessary to ask “should I?”
When I brought up my bit of hesitation about whether this hair station undermined empowerment, he fought on the side of “sometimes things are just fun.” And “kids are kids.” And “I’m sure if little boys were they, they’d want colored, fun hair. Perhaps they’d want mohawks. They’d definitely be into a funky hair station as well.”
And truly, I think he was right. We actually did have some little boys coming by. In fact, I did make a mohawk pink for a little boy who requested that!
I think it’s beyond wonderful that there’s an organization encouraging girls to get out there and get athletic. So, if we need to make athletics fun by spraying hair, dressing up, and being silly – then that’s what we’ll do.
I chose to work at the happy hair station because I thought it would be fun! Even if I didn’t know if I should be “allowed” to think it was fun, I thought it would be. And I knew there was no other place I’d get this unique volunteer opportunity. So, I signed up. And I’ll talk all about it tomorrow.