Female friendship are changing the world in more way than you might think. So in today’s blog post i thought it’s important to mention why there is nothing in the world more powerful than female friendships.
It may seem like a hyperbolic thing to say regarding female friendships, but if you think about the history of our society it has often worked on keeping women in their place and apart, which has certainly carried significant weight.
A UCLA study that was conducted by Laura Klein and Shelly Taylor found that ‘women were genetically wired to befriend and tend to people in times of stress while men were more likely to exhibit a fight or flight response. This is because of a hormone called oxytocin, enhance by oestrogen in women and reduced by testosterone in men’. It’s might be a scientific argument but I adhere to it.
If you really think about times in your life that are stressful, who do you find yourself wanting to text or call? For me, i find myself calling and texting the women who are the closest to me – my sister and my closest circle of friends. It seem to be alway a female friend i can shere my concerns or problems with because female friendships are far from the catty relationships that have often been shown in pop culture and social media over the last few centuries.
Ever since I can remember, women have constantly been taught to fear each other; Disney movies such as sleeping beauty, cinderella and a little mermaid all portray vengeful and jealous females attacking members of their sex. It’s even happened recently in HBO’s And Just Like That…. {the sex in the city reboot}. As Samantha doesn’t return to New York to support Carrie in her time of need? – Kim Cattrall wasn’t interested in returning – but the show’s writers didn’t do her iconic character justice. Samantha as all about priorising female friendship.
Today, I try to show as much support in person and online to other women that I care about, from online friends or my closest friends who don’t get to see as I would like to…work-life sucks.
Even in celebrity culture, there has been a real shift from the cattiness of the ’00s toward famous women sticking up for one another. Probably the most known one is demonstrated through the Free Britney movement, which saw Paris Hilton write a beautiful tribute to the star after being released from her conservatorship, praising her for turning “trauma into triumph”. Paris also spoke warmly about former frenemy Lindsay Lohan, congratulating her on her recent engagement.
This is the power of female friendships, and that is why it doesn’t matter if the world is ready for them. They are happening now, it’s been happening for years, and it’s its getting stronger each day, affecting change against misogyny, oppression and discrimination.
Even if female friendships are seen as an act of rebellion. Be a rebel.
