If I were to walk into a classroom right now and ask every woman to raise their hand if they have ever been ridiculed or persecuted by another woman, I have no doubts that every female in the room would raise their hand with gusto. And, in my opinion, this is tragic. But what’s more tragic is that I find myself calling other women that I don’t even know a bitch/slut/insert insult of choice (usually in my head — usually) on a daily basis! I know it’s wrong of me to judge others, especially when I don’t even know them, but it has been so ingrained into my personality and daily habits to see other women as competition. Why do I constantly find myself putting down other women when I know I should be making my best effort to empower them? Women are so beautiful, intelligent, and compassionate, yet I can’t help myself from throwing out misogynistic slurs whenever I feel a little insecure or jealous. I am truly sorry —and that’s why I’m here to remind all my fellow ladies and myself why we need to stick together and stop putting each other down.
It’s time for us to realize that we have so much more in common that our anatomy. As women we share many of the same struggles and experiences: random men on the street telling us we should smile when it’s obviously just our neutral face, not feeling like we conform to the typical standards of beauty, experiencing every possible emotion in a span of 6.9 seconds, and, of course, menstruation (*cringes*). Since when has another woman ever made me feel unsafe when walking alone on a dark night? (OK, it was one time, but I think she had severe schizophrenia and I get scared easily.) When has another woman verbally abused me because I wouldn’t have sex with her? When has another woman created entire laws and institutions that perpetuate misogyny? When has another woman systemically oppressed an entire gender? Almost never.
Don’t get me wrong, women are nowhere near perfect and I appreciate men in all their masculine glory. But we live in a world where we cannot deny that most women have not been given the same opportunities and privileges as men, and therefore it is up to us to band together and create change. How can we expect men to respect us when we don’t even respect each other? Although I firmly believe men should respect women regardless, realistically it is almost impossible for them to realize our potential and need for empowerment without unity of our entire gender. Although great strides have been made to promote gender equality, we are nowhere near perfection — especially in nations not as privileged as ours.
It’s time for us women to realize that we are not each others' competition; we are best friends, sisters, lovers, mothers, daughters, peers, and saviors. Once we are able to combine our collective talents and motivations, we can add even more power to the mission to better our lives. Let's treat each other the same way we treat the new best friends we drunkenly make in the bathroom — with immediate love and recognition of each others' beauty.
