Jordan JaDella Smith
Recently I have begun to pay attention to how much women really degrade each other. We, as women, instead of promoting each other’s image choose to point out the visible flaws. Not only do we project these imperfections, we also use hurtful words and phrases. “Bitch.” “Your thighs are too big.” “You need a breast reduction.” “Your teeth are too big.” “Are you going to fix that wide gap of yours?” “Have you tried proactive, your acne has gotten worse.”
Why do women degrade each other? The answer is quite simple. Women degrade each other because we look at each other as competition. To protect our image, to hide our insecurities, and to feel better about ourselves, we would rather use an aggressive tongue to lower another woman. Some women are raised to be prized by a man and battle other women for the ultimate prize, others are verbally abused unknowingly by their mothers because she does not want her daughter to walk around the house because her body looks x-rated, or by social media messages relaying the message that “you know you are too fat for that outfit.” This world has “molded women, shaped women to seek out their place, their numerical rank amongst their peers. We are taught to climb to the top by stepping on everyone else’s heads on the way up.” We are lead to “believe that our stake in this world is dependent on who we are prettier than”, fitter than, smaller than, or perhaps even smarter than (Meredith Dickerson). Instead of using malicious words and these practices that have been rooted, we should try finding something nice to say, and if finding something nice to say seems to be impossible, keeping your mouth closed is a good option too.