Here’s a very broad statement that I’m going to spend several posts qualifying: sometimes, women are judgmental. I guess, sometimes PEOPLE are judgmental. These judgements then restrain us from helping each other or making meaningful connections with one another. I really feel that women should make as much of an effort as possible to not be judgmental of other women and instead try to be supportive of them – as athletes, as moms, and as people. This is a hard thing to ask because a lot of times, judgements are snap reactions that pop in our heads. However, I still think we should work on this. Here are some reasons why: 

1. Women already have it tough. We could all be stronger and better off working together. Why do we expend so much energy tearing each other down rather than building each other up? It starts so early in life. Middle school was bad, but I remember there being mean girls in elementary school too. 

2. Moms also have it tough. I feel like recently there’s been a push on social media to be cooler toward other moms, although that could be selection bias because I definitely seek out people who think like me on social media. I removed myself from most mom-related facebook groups because those can get vicious. 

3. Women seem to avoid focusing negative attention on men by focusing it on other women. I’m not trying to say that we have to heap negativity on anyone, but if negativity has to go somewhere, why direct it at other women? If a woman is feeling frustrated at her place in the world, why not focus on the fact that the main people holding women back from equal pay, equal representation, equal everything ARE MEN and the society we live in that was created by them? This might not be a popular sentiment. I SUPER don’t care. This blog may not be for you. 

So I recognize that those list items ramped up to a fairly aggressive stance fairly quickly. I have incredible and supportive men in my life, and I know I’m very lucky for this (Like you, Husband, and you, Dad, and you, Father-in-law, and you, both Brothers-in-law! Also you, Boss, if you read this! Thanks!). It’s going to take a few more posts to really think this through on my end. Tune in soon for the continuation of this series!