So, how many of you out there have been known to say, "I don't get along with other women. Most of my friends are guys." C'mon, start raising your hands ladies. The fact is, many of us DO have many more friends who are men than women. Some of us may not have any female friends at all. And what is normally the excuse? "I just dont' get along with other women" or "women don't like me, I think they're jealous," or "I can't stand the way most women act." Have you ever stopped to think about WHY this is? Do you hear men saying that about each other often? Of course not, most of the time, men are trying to get away from their wives and girflfriends to go spend a night with the guys, hanging out watching football, drinking beer, and eating nag-free fried foods. So why is this ladies? Why can men get along with each other at least 95% of the time, but women can only maintain close friendships about 35% of the time? If you look up the statistics, they aren't very encouraging.
The fact is, if women spent more time supporting other women, perhaps we wouldn't still be paid less than men for performing the same jobs. Perhaps we would've had a female president thirty or fifty or even a hundred years ago. Maybe we would've been the first to land on the moon, or maybe there would've been at least ONE beat poet that was a woman. When you stop to consider, sometimes women's worst enemy, is women. Whether its something as seemingly inconsequential such as a casual friendship, or a working environment, or even your brother's girlfriends, remember, often times, there is power in numbers - we will improve our efforts on behalf of women if we stick together. Women will advance a lot faster, reach their goals sooner, and change the future more profoundly if we all learn to support each other. So, next time you see that girl you can't stand because she used to date your boyfriend, or because you heard she called you a slut, try to put it in a different perspective, and think of her as another woman fighting beside you for the same cause. Once you put yourself on the same side in order to fight a much bigger battle, then sometimes those petty differences shrink away and don't seem like such a big deal anymore. If we could all change the silly jealousies, the gossip, and the hatin' on each other over past (and present) boyfriends, into positive relationships of encouragement, nurture, and support, I would bet all of Manhattan that the world would change in drastic ways for every single woman on the planet. It just takes a little effort, and a lot of character.
The fact is, if women spent more time supporting other women, perhaps we wouldn't still be paid less than men for performing the same jobs. Perhaps we would've had a female president thirty or fifty or even a hundred years ago. Maybe we would've been the first to land on the moon, or maybe there would've been at least ONE beat poet that was a woman. When you stop to consider, sometimes women's worst enemy, is women. Whether its something as seemingly inconsequential such as a casual friendship, or a working environment, or even your brother's girlfriends, remember, often times, there is power in numbers - we will improve our efforts on behalf of women if we stick together. Women will advance a lot faster, reach their goals sooner, and change the future more profoundly if we all learn to support each other. So, next time you see that girl you can't stand because she used to date your boyfriend, or because you heard she called you a slut, try to put it in a different perspective, and think of her as another woman fighting beside you for the same cause. Once you put yourself on the same side in order to fight a much bigger battle, then sometimes those petty differences shrink away and don't seem like such a big deal anymore. If we could all change the silly jealousies, the gossip, and the hatin' on each other over past (and present) boyfriends, into positive relationships of encouragement, nurture, and support, I would bet all of Manhattan that the world would change in drastic ways for every single woman on the planet. It just takes a little effort, and a lot of character.
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