I figured that if I fall while going on
stage the worst and most embarrassing
thing imaginable has already happened
and I don’t have to worry about making
the perfect talk anymore I almost said
no to do this talk because of that not
the following bit to be honest I was
actually planned but the part about not
doing a perfect talk I was so worried I
was gonna say the wrong things or not
say the right things and why would
people you guys want to listen to what I
have to say I’ve always been a victim of
what I call the good girl syndrome
always behaving giving it my hardest to
get perfect grades and then thriving on
being told what a good girl I was so
isn’t that ironic but the very thing I’m
here to talk about today almost made me
not to do it
but at the same time made me do it
because you’re not really being a good
girl if you say no to a TEDx talk are
you however I am not primarily here
because I used to be and probably will
always be a victim of the good girl
syndrome I’m here because I work as a
stunt woman exploding crashing bikes and
falling down stairs for a living it’s
the most amazing job in the world and
every project I do I’m so grateful and
happy to get to do something I feel I
was meant to be doing all along I grew
up wrestling and horseback riding in
pole vaulting growing up I wanted to
become the best in the world at whatever
sport I was pursuing to become the
strongest and fastest athlete of all
that is until somewhere in my teens my
will to be strong
was suddenly outweighed by this
started to think about this in the light
of the profession I have now how when I
double you know I switch places with the
actors for the part of the scene that’s
a bit more risky or requires a bit more
physical strength or ability I not only
try to look as much as the actors as
possible but I also try to mimic the way
the character moves and I found that I
so often have to make my movements look
look weak or small or like I just don’t
know what I’m doing and I’ve found that
the women I pursue often fit into this
very narrow stereotype this summer for
example I did a bicycle crash I was
flying headfirst over the handlebars in
high heels and a dress and that crash it
looks kind of rough and hard it looks
like it hurts and after the first take
the director asked me if it was possible
to make the crash look a bit more
graceful so when a woman does make a
mistake like crash a bike at least she
does it gracefully about the same time
this became a pattern to me I started to
realize that there’s another pattern I
realized that too often women including
myself are excluded for more physical
situations before even given the chance
to prove that they belong and not
because of lack of skill or any other
sensible explanation I’ve chosen a few
situations I’ve been in as a stunt woman
that has made me come to the realization
that for all our sakes especially young
girls and boys we need to stop excluding
women and we need to stop the narrow and
shallow way of portraying women in film
and in TV and games
because why not so the important thing
for me that you realize is that I’m I’m
not up here telling you that I want
there to be 50% women in the fight
scenes or the action movies to me that’s
just not relevant what I want is that
the deal breaker regarding who’s in
those fight scenes or whatever the
situation might be is skill and hard
work and dedication it’s not gender so
the first time this became obvious to me
I was watching a rehearsal of a fight
scene at one of the largest theater
stages in Sweden they were just moving
on to the fight scene so during the
director told the women in the in Samba
up on stage to go to the back of the
crowd and the men chosen to do the
fighting to go to the front so I looked
around and no one else seemed to be
bothered by this
so even think twice of what he was
asking so I thought like you were
probably thinking that these guys were
chosen to tell this story because they
had stage fighting experience or some
kind of physical ability I’m not gonna
tell you where this was so it’s okay for
me to tell you that these guys they had
no idea what they were doing not when it
came to the stage fighting or the
physical ability so obviously these guys
were chosen to tell this story not
because of their skill but because of
their gender the women were told to sit
this one out because of their not
because of their lack of skill but
because of their gender the storytellers
they wanted of violent scenes of
prejudice and tradition chose two men to
be a part of telling this story and the
women were excluded before anything
given the chance this was a historical
place so if I had asked for the motive
behind this situation it probably would
have been
something to do with that historically
women didn’t fight that much in the
streets it was usually the men doing
that which is pretty much the same thing
that enrages the players of the game
battlefield now that you have the choice
to play as a woman I did motion capture
for the first trailer that was released
and I was so proud my male staff
colleagues have been doing motion
capture for the previous battlefield
games for ages and now because of this
new female soldier I got to be there and
pursue my passion for stunts and tell
this story the trailer was released and
people were outraged women in World War
2 yes they were very few women in the
war compared to the men but they were
there as undercover agents a soldier is
on the front lines as medical personnel
and as mechanics they were there and I I
love this addition to the game not only
because I got to be there and kind of
explode and jump out of tags and dodge
bullets on the ground but because this
way more stories get told I have two
other situations I’d like to talk with
you about today the first one was we
don’t want to promote violence towards
women and the other one was we’re afraid
she’d look silly if she did that so the
first one I heard was when they were
looking for a small and short guy to be
part of a trio of stew typically badass
characters and they were getting their
asses kicked by this really cool main
character so the shorter guys were all
booked so the stunt coordinator put me
up as an option
absolutely no women they told him
because they didn’t want to promote
so instead of choosing to portray this
badass strong woman they excluded women
from the beginning and even though so
much violent crime is committed between
men but still that’s okay to promote the
last explanation I heard was when and I
was doing a job featuring a girl out
running so we wanted her to do some cool
flips and picure and that’s why I was
there but in the end we barely did any
flips because they were worried she
would be perceived as silly if she did
that the important thing was that she
was just smiling now isn’t that really
sad that as soon as a girl does
something that’s out of the ordinary
prejudice rules that she’s silly or
she’s trying too hard with this
mentality no wonder women shy away from
pursuing their passion in fields that
are nowadays not so typically female
like science for example my sisters are
pursuing careers in science they’re up
there they’re bright and talented and
hardworking women and they had pretty
much the same thoughts about going into
their careers as I had doing this talk
am I really good enough what if I make
mistakes and fail what if I can’t do it
the fear of failure and not being
flawless it was part of so many women’s
lives by telling more stories of women
who make mistakes who get hurt who
fights
I feel II do believe we can inspire
women in all fields to at least give it
a try and see what happens do not let
their fear of failure or being flawed
stop them from doing what they dream of
one really cool and bright girl told me
when she was about to start the seventh
grade that she had decided to just scrap
all the beauty expectations and just be
who she is no more spending her
morning’s putting makeup on and curling
her hair because as she put it
society and social media tells her to do
it apart from you know filling out her
eyebrows a little because otherwise she
would just not be comfortable in going
to school seventh grade twelve years old
I can’t go to school without perfect
eyebrows I know there’s an insane amount
of pressure when it comes to physicality
for boys as well but the fact is that an
estimated 90% of people suffering from
eating disorders in Sweden are female
and studies show that a majority of
those suffering from stress and anxiety
and depression our girls and women what
if we could show little girls growing up
that to be confident and proud what you
need is to be tough and strong and brave
and sometimes a little badass not
perfect eyebrows so why do I react to
these situations and what does that have
to do with a good girl syndrome why do I
think women should be in the fight
scenes female characters should be in
all kinds of games and a woman doing
flips should not risk being called silly
I never knew I wanted to be a stunt
woman growing up no tree was too high or
a mountain side too steep or challenged
too big but apart from you know dreaming
about being the best I never wanted to
be a stunt woman instead my dream was to
be a beautiful actress
or a supermodel even though none of my
growing up I wanted to be strong but I
also wanted to be everybody’s little
princess I was terrified of anyone not
liking me and all I wanted was for
people to think what a good girl
they’ll is I never spoke up I never
fought for what I wanted and I willingly
went to the back of the crowd so many
times I wanted to be perfect because of
that I have spent years and years
fighting against anxiety and eating
disorders and I still ask myself how did
that strong wrestler go from kicking ass
at everything she did to letting her
life revolve around nothing else than to
not gain weights by choosing to include
women in a wider variety of storytelling
as the bad guy as the one who crashes
the car doesn’t want to pick the fight
and that’s the one who falls face first
to the ground
I genuinely believe we can inspire and
promote kicking the good girl syndromes
ass and being who you want to be or
whatever you want to be I hope I have
inspired you to buy the films and games
that include all kinds of characters and
if you have children be thoughtful of
what games they’re playing or what shows
they’re watching and if you believe
there are storylines or care
there is that are missing why not send
an email or drop a comment to the
company that’s producing those films or
those games your words will inspire
those creating games or films to think
outside the box because that’s what’s so
incredible about this new stories are
written every day be the change you want
to see in the world right I don’t want
more women to how to grieve the years
they lost chasing an unreachable goal of
perfection instead I want all women to
get to celebrate the years they spent
going all in through their passion their
talent and their dreams
if broadening the way we tell female
stories can inspire just one girl to be
brave and strong and go after what she believes in then why not
stage the worst and most embarrassing
thing imaginable has already happened
and I don’t have to worry about making
the perfect talk anymore I almost said
no to do this talk because of that not
the following bit to be honest I was
actually planned but the part about not
doing a perfect talk I was so worried I
was gonna say the wrong things or not
say the right things and why would
people you guys want to listen to what I
have to say I’ve always been a victim of
what I call the good girl syndrome
always behaving giving it my hardest to
get perfect grades and then thriving on
being told what a good girl I was so
isn’t that ironic but the very thing I’m
here to talk about today almost made me
not to do it
but at the same time made me do it
because you’re not really being a good
girl if you say no to a TEDx talk are
you however I am not primarily here
because I used to be and probably will
always be a victim of the good girl
syndrome I’m here because I work as a
stunt woman exploding crashing bikes and
falling down stairs for a living it’s
the most amazing job in the world and
every project I do I’m so grateful and
happy to get to do something I feel I
was meant to be doing all along I grew
up wrestling and horseback riding in
pole vaulting growing up I wanted to
become the best in the world at whatever
sport I was pursuing to become the
strongest and fastest athlete of all
that is until somewhere in my teens my
will to be strong
was suddenly outweighed by this
started to think about this in the light
of the profession I have now how when I
double you know I switch places with the
actors for the part of the scene that’s
a bit more risky or requires a bit more
physical strength or ability I not only
try to look as much as the actors as
possible but I also try to mimic the way
the character moves and I found that I
so often have to make my movements look
look weak or small or like I just don’t
know what I’m doing and I’ve found that
the women I pursue often fit into this
very narrow stereotype this summer for
example I did a bicycle crash I was
flying headfirst over the handlebars in
high heels and a dress and that crash it
looks kind of rough and hard it looks
like it hurts and after the first take
the director asked me if it was possible
to make the crash look a bit more
graceful so when a woman does make a
mistake like crash a bike at least she
does it gracefully about the same time
this became a pattern to me I started to
realize that there’s another pattern I
realized that too often women including
myself are excluded for more physical
situations before even given the chance
to prove that they belong and not
because of lack of skill or any other
sensible explanation I’ve chosen a few
situations I’ve been in as a stunt woman
that has made me come to the realization
that for all our sakes especially young
girls and boys we need to stop excluding
women and we need to stop the narrow and
shallow way of portraying women in film
and in TV and games
because why not so the important thing
for me that you realize is that I’m I’m
not up here telling you that I want
there to be 50% women in the fight
scenes or the action movies to me that’s
just not relevant what I want is that
the deal breaker regarding who’s in
those fight scenes or whatever the
situation might be is skill and hard
work and dedication it’s not gender so
the first time this became obvious to me
I was watching a rehearsal of a fight
scene at one of the largest theater
stages in Sweden they were just moving
on to the fight scene so during the
director told the women in the in Samba
up on stage to go to the back of the
crowd and the men chosen to do the
fighting to go to the front so I looked
around and no one else seemed to be
bothered by this
so even think twice of what he was
asking so I thought like you were
probably thinking that these guys were
chosen to tell this story because they
had stage fighting experience or some
kind of physical ability I’m not gonna
tell you where this was so it’s okay for
me to tell you that these guys they had
no idea what they were doing not when it
came to the stage fighting or the
physical ability so obviously these guys
were chosen to tell this story not
because of their skill but because of
their gender the women were told to sit
this one out because of their not
because of their lack of skill but
because of their gender the storytellers
they wanted of violent scenes of
prejudice and tradition chose two men to
be a part of telling this story and the
women were excluded before anything
given the chance this was a historical
place so if I had asked for the motive
behind this situation it probably would
have been
something to do with that historically
women didn’t fight that much in the
streets it was usually the men doing
that which is pretty much the same thing
that enrages the players of the game
battlefield now that you have the choice
to play as a woman I did motion capture
for the first trailer that was released
and I was so proud my male staff
colleagues have been doing motion
capture for the previous battlefield
games for ages and now because of this
new female soldier I got to be there and
pursue my passion for stunts and tell
this story the trailer was released and
people were outraged women in World War
2 yes they were very few women in the
war compared to the men but they were
there as undercover agents a soldier is
on the front lines as medical personnel
and as mechanics they were there and I I
love this addition to the game not only
because I got to be there and kind of
explode and jump out of tags and dodge
bullets on the ground but because this
way more stories get told I have two
other situations I’d like to talk with
you about today the first one was we
don’t want to promote violence towards
women and the other one was we’re afraid
she’d look silly if she did that so the
first one I heard was when they were
looking for a small and short guy to be
part of a trio of stew typically badass
characters and they were getting their
asses kicked by this really cool main
character so the shorter guys were all
booked so the stunt coordinator put me
up as an option
absolutely no women they told him
because they didn’t want to promote
so instead of choosing to portray this
badass strong woman they excluded women
from the beginning and even though so
much violent crime is committed between
men but still that’s okay to promote the
last explanation I heard was when and I
was doing a job featuring a girl out
running so we wanted her to do some cool
flips and picure and that’s why I was
there but in the end we barely did any
flips because they were worried she
would be perceived as silly if she did
that the important thing was that she
was just smiling now isn’t that really
sad that as soon as a girl does
something that’s out of the ordinary
prejudice rules that she’s silly or
she’s trying too hard with this
mentality no wonder women shy away from
pursuing their passion in fields that
are nowadays not so typically female
like science for example my sisters are
pursuing careers in science they’re up
there they’re bright and talented and
hardworking women and they had pretty
much the same thoughts about going into
their careers as I had doing this talk
am I really good enough what if I make
mistakes and fail what if I can’t do it
the fear of failure and not being
flawless it was part of so many women’s
lives by telling more stories of women
who make mistakes who get hurt who
fights
I feel II do believe we can inspire
women in all fields to at least give it
a try and see what happens do not let
their fear of failure or being flawed
stop them from doing what they dream of
one really cool and bright girl told me
when she was about to start the seventh
grade that she had decided to just scrap
all the beauty expectations and just be
who she is no more spending her
morning’s putting makeup on and curling
her hair because as she put it
society and social media tells her to do
it apart from you know filling out her
eyebrows a little because otherwise she
would just not be comfortable in going
to school seventh grade twelve years old
I can’t go to school without perfect
eyebrows I know there’s an insane amount
of pressure when it comes to physicality
for boys as well but the fact is that an
estimated 90% of people suffering from
eating disorders in Sweden are female
and studies show that a majority of
those suffering from stress and anxiety
and depression our girls and women what
if we could show little girls growing up
that to be confident and proud what you
need is to be tough and strong and brave
and sometimes a little badass not
perfect eyebrows so why do I react to
these situations and what does that have
to do with a good girl syndrome why do I
think women should be in the fight
scenes female characters should be in
all kinds of games and a woman doing
flips should not risk being called silly
I never knew I wanted to be a stunt
woman growing up no tree was too high or
a mountain side too steep or challenged
too big but apart from you know dreaming
about being the best I never wanted to
be a stunt woman instead my dream was to
be a beautiful actress
or a supermodel even though none of my
growing up I wanted to be strong but I
also wanted to be everybody’s little
princess I was terrified of anyone not
liking me and all I wanted was for
people to think what a good girl
they’ll is I never spoke up I never
fought for what I wanted and I willingly
went to the back of the crowd so many
times I wanted to be perfect because of
that I have spent years and years
fighting against anxiety and eating
disorders and I still ask myself how did
that strong wrestler go from kicking ass
at everything she did to letting her
life revolve around nothing else than to
not gain weights by choosing to include
women in a wider variety of storytelling
as the bad guy as the one who crashes
the car doesn’t want to pick the fight
and that’s the one who falls face first
to the ground
I genuinely believe we can inspire and
promote kicking the good girl syndromes
ass and being who you want to be or
whatever you want to be I hope I have
inspired you to buy the films and games
that include all kinds of characters and
if you have children be thoughtful of
what games they’re playing or what shows
they’re watching and if you believe
there are storylines or care
there is that are missing why not send
an email or drop a comment to the
company that’s producing those films or
those games your words will inspire
those creating games or films to think
outside the box because that’s what’s so
incredible about this new stories are
written every day be the change you want
to see in the world right I don’t want
more women to how to grieve the years
they lost chasing an unreachable goal of
perfection instead I want all women to
get to celebrate the years they spent
going all in through their passion their
talent and their dreams
if broadening the way we tell female
stories can inspire just one girl to be
brave and strong and go after what she believes in then why not
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