There used to be a time when women stuck together for a greater cause, like the right to vote or for equal pay. Now women are just competitive and petty. We're always competing to be smarter or prettier, and what saddens me the most is that we always put each other down.

The need to be competitive is instilled in women at a very young age. For example, little girls being put in pageants teaches them to compete with other girls for recognition. They are taught that their body must be perfect, their hair must be slayed and their smile should be brighter than the sun in order to be better than the next girl. Even throughout school girls are taught that they have to be ten times better than everyone else, we have to have the best clothes, get the best grades, and have the most friends to keep our "status". Girls tend to form little cliques with their friends and they gossip about other girls in order to break them down. When it comes to girls it always seems to be about who has the highest ranking. Every girl wants to be "Queen B." Guys, on the other hand, are always taught to work together. They are told that "teamwork makes the dream work. Guys are pushed into sports, and they are used to working together towards a common goal. Even when they are competing in sports, they are fighting together.

I thought that as we grow older we are supposed to mature. If college has taught me anything it is that girls are extremely petty. Unfortunately, being petty is like wearing a badge of honor. Girls are constantly changing their Twitter names to things such as "petty wap," and "petty Labelle." Every time we're getting ready to go out it seems as if the goal is to look good enough to "steal" another girl's boyfriend. Girls always feel need to comment on who wore the shoes better, whose dress is tighter and whose face is beat. In reality, none of this really matters. It seems that women want to compete against each other for the attention of a man. When women see a man that they find attractive it's like world war III. A woman can be extremely successful, have a great job and a nice house, but their life is not technically complete until they have a man. It's a part of the "American Dream." So instead of focusing on themselves and being great, women tear each other to shreds.

With all the craziness that's going on in the world instead of hating on each other women need to come together. We need to realize that we're all beautiful and intelligent, and if we build each other up we can be unstoppable.