Women Supporting Women

I’ve noticed in my coaching work (1-2-1, parent, teen, family) that a certain topic has been coming up a lot lately, and I feel compelled to speak on it.

Women are having it rough of late. Both in the media and in their interpersonal lives it seems. Regardless of which side of the political coin you fall on, it’s tough to watch the way the news speaks about women in politics. Socially, there’s been significant uproar about a number of women’s issues, and there’s vitriol pouring out into the world at an alarming rate.

But the thing that’s been most upsetting for me to see, has been women attacking each other. I’ve been disheartened to see how many women have resorted to women tearing each other down, intentionally harming each other’s self-image, and spewing hate.

Research has consistently shown that the current media representations of women are harmful - and that they’ve become more overtly sexist than they were years ago. Not only that, but it’s having long-lasting implications.

78% of young women are unhappy with their bodies. 37% are unhappy with their careers. In both cases, the media and social influence are cited as the biggest driving factors of that. So why in god’s name are women making it even harder for other women by contributing to that nonsense?

As women, we need to lift each other up and support each other. We must be uniting forces to fight against these social narratives and bolster our self-esteem to where it should be.

If you’re reading this and find yourself agreeing, I ask you: have you ever torn another woman down? For any reason?

Give yourself grace if the answer is yes - because I have to, and I’m saddened to admit it. At the core of a lot of this is insecurity, and a desire to move up in the world. Sometimes it seems easier to step on others to get ahead.

If the answer is yes, I’d also like to offer a free conversation to talk about these feelings and what’s going on. You deserve to be confident in yourself, feel like you’re not fighting other women, and understand why you feel the need to if you do.

And even if you’ve never had the urge to tear another woman down, I encourage you to reach out to me anyway. Our conversation is free and confidential, and you never know what you could learn about yourself as a woman from investing some time in yourself.

Ganesan, S., Ravishankar, S. L., & Ramalingam, S. (2018). Are Body Image Issues Affecting Our Adolescents? A Cross-sectional Study among College Going Adolescent Girls. Indian journal of community medicine : official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine, 43(Suppl 1), S42–S46. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_62_18

Santoniccolo, F., Trombetta, T., Paradiso, M. N., & Rollè, L. (2023). Gender and Media Representations: A Review of the Literature on Gender Stereotypes, Objectification and Sexualization. International journal of environmental research and public health, 20(10), 5770. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20105770