I have a confession to make: I wasn’t always a girl’s girl.
In high school, I put other girls down to make myself look better. “I’m not like other girls” was practically my go-to line when I thought I could get a man. While it came from a place of insecurity, I acknowledge it was still a Regina-George-esque attitude to have. Accordingly, one of my goals for my college career was to nurture my female relationships.
The closer we get to Galentine’s Day (February 13th, for those who are Parks and Rec fans), the more I’ve been thinking about how to honor my girlfriends. I’ve spent a lot of my social career between BFFs, trying to find a female friend to call my own. Now, in college, I’m drowning in them. In my new girl’s girl era, it’s time to find ways to show my friends I love them. As Jane Fonda said during a Ted Talk in 2015, “Women’s friendships are a renewable source of power.” Personally, my friends have been a godsend through gap years, breakups, cross-country moves, winter quarters, and a million voice memo rants. On that note, here are 3 ways to empower your friends this Galentine’s Day.
1 – Gift-Giving
As the teddy bears, flowers, and chocolates pile up and sell out for the season, give your girls a different reason to celebrate. I’ve loved making all of my friends little notes, friendship bracelets, and decorative hearts for their dorms. The Valentine’s season is about spreading love to the people you care about, and romantic love is such a small portion of the loving spirit. Even a tchotchke you pick up at Target can mean the world to the women you love.
2 – Quality Time
There’s nothing better than a girls’ day. Whether you opt for a classic Sex and the City brunch, a beach day, a karaoke night, or anything in between—hanging out with your girls is one of the best ways to show you love them. It’s farewell to the “lonely single girl” trope – have an absolute ball with the women that mean the most to you. Some other ideas I’ve gotten from my girlfriends are:
- making Dolly Parton brand cookies (one of my personal favorite girl bosses)
- blasting Rihanna
- trying on dresses we aren’t buying
- people-watching
- watching When Harry Met Sally
- braiding each other’s hair (so feminine, so chic)
- axe throwing
- watching Michelle Obama speeches
3 – GratitudeÂ
Sometimes the best way to tell someone you appreciate them is just to tell them you appreciate them. Therefore, I want to thank (in alphabetical order) Avery, Brooke, Camryn, Catalina, Ciri, Joy, Juanita, Julia, Lauren, Payton, Sierra, and Sophia–thank you for keeping me sane. I love y’all to the moon & back.Â
As I look at how my female relationships have changed in the past few years, I’m struck by how far I still have to go. Galentine’s Day was originally conceived to rebel against (often misogynistic) Valentine’s Day conventions. But I think we can do better than that. In 2025, do we still have to define female friendship by their dissimilarity to romantic relationships? Do we need to be “not like other girls” to be distinct? From now on, I think Galentine’s Day should be a stand-alone holiday, a testament to our love and support of the women in our lives, regardless of the day after.