Is female solidarity a thing of the past?
During the 1990’s a groovy U.S. channel called HBO gave us the now immortal Sex & The City. We were introduced to four women who apart had nothing in common but together became a tight woven network of support for each other through dating, marriage, cancer, divorce and affairs. It was not all hearts and bows though and their friendships were tested but essentially the four of them pulled together through thick and thin. I was wondering the other day whether we really have that in our lives. Female friendship is healthy and good for us and to be frank without it I’d personally go mad. Even though in my twenties I thought myself a bit of a ladette, these days without womans talk I don’t know where I’d be. It is interesting that this year I’ve had what can only be called a “run in” with four women, who I barely know, who came from nowhere and systematically reduced me to a sobbing wreck. The fact that they did not know me made their judgement and cruel words towards me all the more unbearable. Of course whatever problem these women had was nothing to do with me at all and of their own making but I was shocked and perhaps slightly naive that women can be really nasty, spiteful and jealous of each other. Why do I write this on my blog? Well it leads me into something I wrote the other week about celeb magazines and womens criticism of each other.
Without sounding Greer – like, women should be supporting each other, through weight loss, weight gain, and spurn making comments about other women that they don’t know. I overheard someone in a queue yesterday talking about Patsy Kensit on Strictly Come Dancing (as if they knew her personally) saying how anyone could have been married four times and show their face in public – should be ashamed – it was clear that they were blaming her. I found that a little too much to be honest. I don’t know Patsy Kensit but see her as someone who had very low self esteem after a 4th marriage breakdown – she constantly puts herself down and knows she is being judged every minute she dons a costume. Can we not put a positive spin on this and see how brave, courageous and great it is to see a 42 yr old woman coming back into the public view doing the best she can – and may I say looking rather fab on it as she loses weight and gains confidence.
Come on girls – we can do better than this. Let’s really try not to judge books by their covers and be a little more gentle on our fellow sex!
