Why I’m Sick Of Being Called A White Girl

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When talking about sex and gender today in my Sociology 201 class today, my professor asked the question, “What does it mean to be a ‘girly girl’?”

• cheetah print

• not sporty

• afraid to break a nail

• prissy

But a male student responded with, “Wait, I’ve got this. She’s a white girl! Starbucks, Uggs, fluffy scarf.”

Hold up. I love Starbucks (I’m drinking a venti iced vanilla coffee w/ soy right now, thanks.) I have Uggs. I wear a lot of scarves.

But when did the fact that I drink coffee make me white? I am a college student; I run on coffee.

Since when does a pair of boots define my race? I live in Northwestern PA where it snows. A lot. Boots make sense here.

The sad thing is that this is what most of society thinks a “white girl” is. Let’s take a look at a couple definitions from Urban Dictionary:

White Girl; A person who: wears uggs, wears yoga pants, drinks starbucks, corrects your grammar, has a white iPhone, often has extensions, and denies they’re a white girl.

Get ready for this one;

A creature who often posts pictures of Starbucks on Instagram, Tumblr, or Facebook. Often wears leggings and Ugg Boots and posts about how Nutella is very good when everybody knows it is. You will always see a White Girl with her Ugg Boots on, Leggings on, and IPhone at Starbucks.

A creature?? Hey guess what? 51% of Instagram’s users are male. Only 49% are female. Guess what else? Instagram currently has 300 million monthly active users. So that means 153,000,000 users are MALES! Whaaaat?!

My skin color is indeed white. My gender is indeed female. Which biologically makes me a “white girl.”

Yes, I do enjoy Starbucks. Yes, I do wear Uggs. But no, I do not have an iPhone. I actually don’t like Nutella. I am spending $33,000 a year to be a college-educated young woman, so it makes sense for me to have correct grammar. Yoga pants are comfortable. Just because I don’t fit the whole stereotype, does that make me less white?

But hey, black and Latino and Asian girls like Starbucks too! And they wear Uggs! And since Apple has sold 700 million iPhones since March of 2008, there is quite a high possibility that such girls also have an iPhone! Probably just like you!

I’m so sick of people being so comfortable with using and using and misusing the term “white girl.” How come we don’t throw around the terms “black girl,” “Asian girl,” or “Latina girl” with such ease? It’s because we generally perceive this racial-gendered group—white girls—as one of the least marginalized within the broader population of women. It’s still offensive. It’s a racial joke, which isn’t funny at all.

Just because I am a “white girl” does not make me any less of a person at all.

I am strong, I am intelligent, I am capable.

I will be changing this world because that’s what I am called to do as a child of God.

Sometimes I want to be comfy while taking on 9+ hour days as a full-time college student.

But I will NOT apologize for the young woman I am. I will not apologize for being white.

No girl (or anyone) should have to defend who she is or who God made her because of the color of her skin.

I don’t care if you’re white, black, brown, red, purple, or green.

You rock how God made you.