Why do I like, think like, I need to like, say 'like' like all the time?

Much to my father's annoyance, the body practice of saying the word 'like,' is one all too familiar to me. The word 'like' seems to be associated with ditzy girls that don't have anything intelligible to say, so they dilute their speech with fillers. Sure, if a guy over-uses 'like,' it will be noticed, but the second a girl starts to over-use this idiom, dumb valley-girl impression will surely proceed whatever this girl is saying. It is part of our culture to say the word 'like' but it is also common praxis to label those who use this word excessively as unintelligent. My brother's and I grew up in the same environment, and I got a 36 on the English section of the ACT. I'm quite capable of finding words to convey what I'm trying to say, but I seem to over-use 'like' much more than my brothers. Why is this? I believe that Susan Bordo's argument to women using their bodies' to been seen as docile can also be applied to women using their speech to seem docile. Because using fillers such as "like" is considered a feminine quality, I think that it becomes a subconscious  body practice for girls, however competent they are in the English language, to begin saying 'like' every other word. This word has become such an epidemic in our American culture, the Academy of Linguistic Awareness began a campaign against this word, which you can see here. file://localhost/Users/larisapyskir/Desktop/108_0805-50p.jpg