Too often, our society puts women against each other. Even just this past weekend watching the Superbowl Halftime Show, I heard discussion of “JLo is older and still looks better!” and “No, Shakira is a way more natural dancer than JLo and clearly better.” This was not just within my household too, but all over social media. The fact of the matter is we are used to judged and comparing women all the time. Why can’t we just support each other instead?
Take the iconic chic-flick John Tucker Must Die for example. In this film, when the three girls find out that John is cheating on all of them, they come together to sabotage him. Now, I am not saying go out and sabotage all men, but too often, you don’t see this scenario. In my experience, when a guy has cheated on his girlfriend, the other girl gets blamed. I’m not saying she’s completely off the hook, especially in circumstances when it is a close friend or classmate, but women are much more willing to support their boys and never forgive the girl. Do not forget that the boyfriend is just as much to blame! It is a two-way street to cheat on someone, and he should suffer the same, if not worse, consequences.
I don’t mean to critique that what we as women are doing is bad, but instead open our eyes to how society has set us up to always go against each other. Looking back, I can remember more time critiquing and comparing other women instead of celebrating all our similarities and differences. Instead of fighting one another for who looks best in the same dress you both own, why not just celebrate that you both have the same great sense of style? Because our entire lives we have been comparing and competing with these other girls.
Our William Smith motto is “Women Opening Doors for Women” and I think it is time we start listening to that and begin to also follow the motto Women Supporting Women. Instead of comparing women and ranking one better than the next, celebrate each individuals’ differences as what makes them unique. Celebrate each individuals’ similarities as what makes us friends and provides us with personal connections. If we started to open our minds and chat with one another instead of scroll through Instagram and make superficial judgements, we could learn a lot about each other. Break the mold that society has tried to pit us against each other, and we can be stronger than ever before.