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                                                   Good, for a Girl

By Saige Caldwell

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“Pull” I could hear my voice saying, as I aim the barrel of my shot gun at the empty space ahead of me, when all of a sudden, though the blinding sun in my eyes, I see an orange flying disk. Bamm! I feel a push back in my shoulder, at that moment I see the orange flying disk disintegrate into a ton of pieces falling to the ground. I hit it. I felt so proud. I did this over and over again, once my turn was done, I hear a voice behind me “Kyle your're up, don’t let this girl outshoot you.”

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Growing up my dad would never exclude me from going with him hunting, fishing, or shooting. He was actually proud that there was someone else, along with my brother, that he could teach “his way” of doing things; I was treated like one of the guys; too an extent. Going shooting with my dad and his friends, I was welcomed, but I was not fully embraced as just a fellow shooter, I was always “Ryan’s daughter”. I sometimes felt like I was under a microscope, I couldn’t swear or spit, without someone saying “That’s not very lady like.” I couldn’t shot well without someone saying, “You shoot good for a girl.” It was like being a girl should inhibit my ability to do anything as well as a man.

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“Hey dad what did they mean by “Don’t let THIS GRIL outshoot you?” I asked my dad as we were driving back home. My dad just simply replied “You were out shooting all of us, you’re a good shot.” I left it at that. I knew my dad and his friends didn’t believe that because of my gender, I was less then, but I defiantly believe that I shocked some of them when they saw me shoot.

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As I have become a young adult I have come to realize that some people place, others in  

a box, a gender stereotype. ‘Female gender stereotypes always play on the notion of women’s inequality to men. Women are weaker, less competitive, less adaptable to harsh environments outside the house.’ (no bully) My dad has never put me in that box, but some people have. My parents taught me that you can break that stigma about how people feel. After that day shooting, I was now held to a higher standard in my fellow shooters eyes. I was expected to hit every skeet (orange disk) thrown for me. Why now though? Why did I have to prove myself, that I am as good, if not better, then these guys?

 

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Https://nobullying.com/author/ciaran/. "Gender Stereotypes: Definition, Examples and Analysis |NoBullying|." NoBullying Bullying CyberBullying Resources. N.p., 09 Sept. 2016. Web. 22 Jan. 2017. <https://nobullying.com/gender-stereotypes/>.