International Women's Day: Just for the Day?

Last week saw the anniversary of International Women's Day, held on March 8th across the globe. The day celebrates our wonderful gender, all those inspirational women who have done so much. It is a day for women, from all around to world, to connect and congratulate each other on our magnificent merits.

It is one day. On one day we honour and praise each other.
The rest of the year? We go back to good old female competition then?

From the very early stages of womanhood, young girls are programmed to treat other girls with a competitive streak. You can even see it in Cinderella, where the 'ugly' stepsisters are brought up to compete with Cinderella, or in Disney's The Little Mermaid, where the two female characters are compared and appear to hate each other.

By setting up this stereotype from a very early age, while girls do of course go out into the world and make friends, those somewhat spiteful undertones are undeniably present in the female Western culture. Not only is it noticeable in children's films, but also in other parts of the entertainment industry: from songs, to books, to television programmes, the theme arises in them all. It is certainly not a modern-day issue either as one can note the tension between Elizabeth Bennet and Caroline Bingley in Jane Austen's nineteenth century novel, Pride and Prejudice.

 

While it may be portrayed through nasty comments about appearance or social status, a huge factor of female competition seems to be due to the desire for male attention. In recent years there have been a large number of songs released by female pop artists centring upon belittling other girls in order to seem more attractive to a man. Take Avril Lavigne's 2007 song Girlfriend.

We are presented with a girl bullying another, with the result of stealing her boyfriend. The song features lines such as:
"She’s like so whatever/You could do so much better" and "She’s so stupid/What the hell were you thinking?!" 
Is this what girls are really meant to be thinking? How can I sabotage one girl's relationship in order for me to be happier? On release, the song was a success, reaching number 5 in the American charts. So are we not to blame the writers and artists? Are they merely giving us what we want?

Sadly, this may be the case. This strong sense of competition girls feel towards each other, whether in the workplace, in relation to romance, or appearance wise, is a consequence of our own insecurities. In the society we live in there is such a pressure on being the best: the prettiest, the smartest, the richest. We are constantly being told how we should look, how we should live, what we should be spending our money on.

No wonder we feel the need to point out someone else's flaws.

So, perhaps we should not blame each other for our bitchy ways, but blame the competitive nature of our society. Imagine not worrying about how others view you; life is a whole lot easier. Instead of trying to be the better version of everyone else, be yourself.

Take note from Oscar Wilde, he knew what he was talking about.