Humans experience countless, critical turning points in their lives. As I move further along through the journey of college, I can feel myself creeping up on adulthood. I also feel myself (hopefully) moving on to bigger and better things. I feel that I’m at one of life’s turning points, and that can be strange and difficult to deal with.
Though there are a ton of stressful things going on in my personal life, I’m really feeling more like a new version of my old self. I feel motivated. I feel like waking up early and spending time on my outfit and makeup. I feel like keeping busy and productive all day long until I am too exhausted to carry on. And I feel like waking up the next morning and doing it all over again. And I’m doing all of this for me, because I want to.
I don’t think I can pinpoint the source of this energy to one specific cause; there are a multitude of recent changes in my life that have made me this way, but I cannot ignore the fact that one of the most influential factors contributing to my success and positive outlook are the amazing female friendships I have in my life.
Our culture often pits women against each other, driving a continual competition of who’s prettier or who can win the dreamiest date. When people think of female friendships, often times, drama and cattiness are what come to mind. A little bit of drama comes up in any good relationship, but the negative stereotypes that we’ve perpetuated about friendships between women simply aren’t true. Yes, sometimes we may get feisty with one another, and no, we don’t always get along. But there’s something amazing and powerful about genuine connections between women that we can’t deny.
There’s a certain level of understanding that exists between women that’s just not apparent with men. We are able to empathize with other women, often times simply because we have been in the same shoes. There are really so many things you can gain as a feminist, surrounding yourself with other female-identifying feminists. We empower each other and know the struggle that it sometimes takes for us to reach our dreams and goals as women.
We’re a shoulder to lean on when times get tough. Generally speaking, it’s much easier for a woman to show her vulnerable side to someone she can relate to, rather than put that kind of trust in a man. Your girlfriends can often do a much better job easing your anxieties than your boyfriend or brother can. I’m not saying that friendships between men and women aren’t meaningful. Some of my best friends are men and I’m able to connect with them just as well, but the women in our life are there for it all. They’ve rescued us from our terrible dates, they prevent those awful fashion crimes, and your girlfriends are there for you through every devastating breakup.
So, S/O to all of our powerful female friends, to our girl gangs, to our best friends. Thank you for being there to listen to our endless rants and thank you for supporting us and inspiring us when we need it the most.