I have just seen a video on youtube, instructing women to stop competing with each other and unite as friends. Apparently, if we all do this, we will be as both spiritually and physically empowered as we ever can be. Vaginas unite yay!
Which is great right? We all join forces, never try to outdo each other and never, ever, try to distinguish ourselves from the rest of this friendly female pack. Happy days.
I sit here, staring at my computer screen, waiting to feel empowered, wondering what on earth is wrong with me. This woman is delivering an impassioned speech, designed to further develop a loving, caring relationship among all womankind. I, as a part of the aforementioned species, should be welling up, fit to burst with the pride that comes with being a woman.
But I just can’t buy into it. Emmeline Pankhurst would turn in her grave if she saw my lack of feeling right now. This woman is telling me that in order to better myself; I must stop competing with others. But if I do that, where is my incentive to do anything at all with my life? There is a homeless woman who lives outside of Sainsbury’s. She gets enough food each day to survive on, but never feels full. She can shelter from rain under bus stop shelters, and washes herself in public bathrooms. She can survive, and so her lot in life should be enough.
It isn’t though is it? We want more than enough; we want an abundance of everything. Not because we need it, or just because we want it. We strive towards possessing the finer things in life because we see others with them. We don’t need a flat screen TV, or even chairs around the table. We only get these things because we see others with them, and want to match, or out do them. What it is to be rich is defined by what we see others having.
Why is that so wrong? We’re only human after all. Every day I hear that in order to be truly happy, I must let go of what others think of me. Well that’s bullshit. We are driven by what others think. What it is to be an accomplished human being is defined by what others say and do. If I learnt to speak French fluently, I would be considered, by the world as a whole, to be somewhat useful to have with you in a French restaurant. But, within my linguistically challenged social circle, I would be considered a truly remarkable young woman. My learning of the French language would be no mean achievement. It would take a lot of hard work, and some real determination on my part. But because other people have mastered the French language before me, and gone on the master many other languages, in the grand scheme of things, my learning of one language isn’t that big of a deal.
We don’t compete with each other to be bitchy, or to undermine anyone. We do it because we are human, and I refuse to be told that obeying my human instinct of jealousy is wrong. So what if I go a bit psychotic when my boyfriend fails to give me his full attention on the phone? Firstly, it’s rude to talk to anyone else while I’m talking, and secondly, I’m only human. I get insecure when I think I’m boring him, and it brings out my dark side. Don’t tell me that it’s because of my terrible relationship with womankind. It’s because I’m human, not because I’m a woman.
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