This is for the moments I hate girls.
For the times I’m at the mall and I roll my eyes at their short skirts and tri toned hair.
For the times I see a pretty actress get a lip job and publicly denounce her as the worst.
For the times I log on to Pinterest only to see a place for white, rich, skinny girls to repin chevron thongs and designer bags.
This is for the times I overhear yet another broad telling a concerned audience just how fragile she is.
“I have low iron,” she says delicately, as if carrying a rare form of cancer.
Newsflash: just eat more spinach.
You know where this is headed; that every time I’m hating girls, I’m really just hating myself. I’m hating my one too many self portraits, one too many pity-me rants, and a very unfortunate history of tanning beds. I’m hating the times I’ve told a concerned audience that I’m anemic or repinned overpriced chevron thongs.
I’m hating that one time right after college when I named a photo album on Facebook “Upside Down Under An OverPass.” What does that even mean?
We can be dumb. I can be so dumb. But this is to remind me that we need to have each other’s backs. That even if you take a picture with duck lips, I should forgive you because you probably think you look sexy and maybe you need that today.
This is to remind me to stop pointing fingers at my own sex and start patting backs. To stop criticizing my fellow women’s poor choices and start lifting up their great ones. This is to remind me that girl on girl sabotage is a heinous crime. Who cares if your friend fake bakes and posts pictures of her honeymoon bed? Give her the thumbs up and move on. Don’t waste your time judging.
I’m talking to myself.
As hard as I try to have an open mind, girl hate still creeps in during my weakest moments and this is to remind me to stop. To lock it up. To remember it’s not worth it. We are warriors, every single one of us, and we are all fighting the same battle. Let’s be on the same team.
This is my prayer today.
Soldier on.
***
Guilty.
wait. what is a chevron thong? is this for a car? or a name for some new type of (probably gross?) underwear? i seriously don’t know.
Ha, Suz, I had the same question.
I totally needed this today. Also, for all those times I walk away from a conversation with a mom who just spent the last 15 minutes telling me that her daughter can recite the alphabet through m and recognize colors thinking, “Yeah well Liam’s six months younger than she is. You better believe that six months from now he’ll know the whole goddamn alphabet.” Sometimes we just need to reaffirm ourselves sometimes, and that’s okay.
ROCK ON! Love this.
You killed it, KB. I love you.
It seems you are channeling Tina Fay in Mean Girls.
Yes. Thank you. I wish I read this before I sent a mean email about someone else this morning.
I love this. Well done. Also, your writing really is lovely– from one English major to another.
Definitely guilty of thinking much of this multiple times a day. Mostly when I’m at the mall or the grocery store. But you’re right–the judgmental attitude doesn’t help. It must be hard-wired into our psyche to be that way. Not an excuse though.
My thoughts exactly! This reminds me so much of “Mean Girls.”
freaking love this.
Chevron is the zigzag pattern that’s popular now-a-days. So no more gross than you would consider a regular thong, just trendier. :-)
Just imagine the Google searches that are going to bring people to your blog thanks to the chevron-print thong.
Also, totally with you on this. My issue is usually with other moms, not just women. I’m always like “OMG, did that mom just give her baby a French fry?! She’s the WORST.” And then a week later, I give my kid a fry. Because we’re in the car and she’s freaking out and it makes her happy. Which is probably similar to the reason why the other mom gave her kid a fry. We just don’t know until we know. You know?
It’s truly a miracle how birthing and raising a child brings “reality” into one’s life. Warms my heart to read this one, Kate! You are talking my language. We are all doing the best we can in this journey of life and can use all the support and love from each other along the way.
True stuff right there. :)