My Signature Walk

Walking is an art. It shows how other people see you and judge you as a person. If people notice me, the first thing they see from my outer look is my round-shaped glasses without which I cannot live and second is my one and only walk. “Walk like a girl” has been a common phrase that I’ve heard since my childhood and since I don’t walk like how “normally girls do”, people question my femininity every single time.

I walk in a certain way, different than many girls do. This dates back when I was a young child. I could say this is somewhat an influence of having a twin brother who is only 8 minutes older. This did make a lot of difference in a way that my character as a child was shaped. Being the only girl in my family, I used to hang out with lots of boys and people often termed me as a tomboy. Never have I ever had Barbie dolls or carried Disney bags in my entire primary school years. Instead I was a die-hard fan for power rangers and WWE wrestling shows on TV. Along with that, I knew and used most of the signature moves of wrestlers such as “Batista bomb”, “Choke slam” and (many more that I don’t remember now) to my guy friends. A naughty tomboy as a kid, people criticized whenever I wore black hip hop t shirts, baggy pants, shorts and played basketball with boys rather than being a girl and adhering to rituals at home. They expected me to do household chores, clean the house, help my mom out, sit cross-legged and to “always be like a girl”.

Something as simple as having a \"walk\" in Nepal meant the whole world to a young teenager like me because every step of my walk was carefully judged and analyzed to be termed as the \"men- like walk\". This was definitely disappointing for me as my own parents and relatives who knew my upbringing were the ones to comment on my outer presentation. As a child, I always listened to them and never once went against their opinions. Many times I tried walking \"like a girl\" however my physique did not support the brand-new form of walk which was forceful and burdensome. 

I’m 21 now and many things have changed yet the one trait that has been unaltered over the years is the way I walk. Girls of my age walk with a posture that would show off their body and curves but for me, I hunch my shoulder and walk as fast as I can. I never stand straight and upright. However, the feeling of contentment I feel with my posture is why I love the way I walk. My body automatically turns into that self-mode and I feel comfortable to strove my body the way I like. The way I walk does not reveal my body and it does not make me look poise enough. I know that. I may not walk pretty or as elegant as other girls do but surely the signature walk that I am born with makes me confident and empowered. My signature walk is real and I do not have to fake it to those who criticize me.