Just 12 Fly Photos Of Girls Ruling The Planet

Let's put the head-patting and mild-mannered slogans away for the International Day Of The Girl, and instead focus on powerful photos of girls the world over who make us say, Oh hells yes.

From Mongolia to Gaza, girls are smashing it in their given hobbies and fields, as these stunning photos show. Whether or not they are familiar with the concept of taking up space, reclaiming their time, or owning their achievements, they are mayor of their damn spaces, their time has been claimed, and achievement is unlocked.

It's great that we teach girls that they can be astronauts, or marathoners, or district attorneys with backbones of titanium, but I would have been just as inspired as a child if someone told me "You know what girls are good at? Training freaking eagles to hunt prey for you, then return like a loyal retriever to the crook of your arm." THAT. That would have begun to pry my eyes open to the possibilities that are available to girls. Or perhaps, "You know what girls are good at? Shooting off a ski jump like artillery out of a cannon." Because, damn, girls are good at that too.

As you will see.

Here, the 2014 winner of a Mongolian "Golden Eagle Festival" poses with her bird that she has trained to hunt and kill, and looks like she's having a damn nice time doing it.

I call this the scorpion, a girl Magneto-ing herself in the air. Maybe she'll come down, maybe she won't. She's running this show.

Demonstrating exceeding chill, this 6-year-old has just conquered the Changjiang River in China, and appears pretty pleased about it.

Above, 16-year-old Laura Dekker sails into a Caribbean port after circumnavigating the globe solo-handed in her yacht. Odysseus could never.

In the above photo, a Palestinian girl does a light bit of show jumping in the Gaza strip, a patch of land clamped between two vices, and frequently subject to violent incursions.

This coach isn't doing anything more than letting this girl throw her tiny body of a gigantic ski jump, high into the air, in a sport added this past Olympics to the roster of events that females can compete in, thanks to the advocacy of the very fly U.S. women's ski jumping team.

Herein, a girl commands all 1,200 honking pounds of the grand piano before her in a masterclass, as one of the world's best sets of fingers.

Seventeen-year-old Keala Tomoda-Bannert, a Hawaiian native, appears to be flying down a wave like a spear in this shot from the VANS U.S. open in July.

A friendly reminder that girls like Hou Yifan can explode your brain just by concentrating on your rook.

Poorna Malavath, 13, just decided to climb Mount Everest one day. That was her goal: climb tallest mountain in world. Had she climbed any other mountains? No! Did that stop her from reaching the top? F no!

I've tried swimming with a can of seltzer and I can't do it, so I can't fathom how this girl is suspending herself upside-down in the splits, like a paragon of free will, but here we are. She's doing it.

NO ONE PUTS BABY IN A CORNER.

Happy International Day of the Girl, y'all. You can lend your support to girls the world over by clicking here.