Mom’s photo shoot says girls can be athletic and girly. ‘Why does she have to choose?’

Heather Mitchell couldn’t sleep.

The night before at her daughter’s first softball game, another mother had told the Alabama photographer that her daughter was “not athletic, she is a girly-girl.” 

So she grabbed her 8-year-old the next morning, pulled her into the studio, and shot a photo of her wearing one high heel and one softball cleat

The photo, first posted on her personal Facebook page, led to a viral photo series showing girls who play sports in dresses and tiaras surrounded by their athletic gear. She captioned it: “Because you can do it all.”