Throws like a girl, runs like a girl, kicks butt like a girl...

[wrangletangle]

(This month, I'm contributing to #femslash february by highlighting female character-centric and femslash-centric tags at AO3.)

Has anyone else noticed that there's a fannish meme been going around for a while now to have grown men derogatorily refer to their own or other men's behavior as being "like a teenage girl"? When did this become a Thing? And why?

I've met so many teenaged young women, and they're all very different people, most of them quite awesome. To me, "like a teenage girl" means "like a student taking 5 languages", "like an gymnast who practices 6 hours a day", "like a philanthropist who organized her whole grade into making Valentines cards for the kids at the local Children's Hospital", "like the stage manager for her school's musical", "like a camp counselor who teaches kids how to swim", "like a folk dancer who writes dances for her group", or "like a programmer who's designing her own video game".

Every time I read "like a teenage girl" said by a character with a sneer in their voice, all it does is make me not like that character anymore. Is that the intent? Then it's working.

So, hey! Here are some tags on AO3 where I've found positive, complex portrayals of teenage women:

* Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena
* Kate Bishop
* Simoun
* Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: Legend of Korra
* Young Wizards
* Sophie Hatter
* Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

(Freeform non-canonical of the day: tag search for "Teen* Girl*" [warning: not actually uplifting])

I'm sure there are lots of positive tags I've missed. Got any suggestions?