Why Do Women Compete with one Another?


I have never understood why women are so jealous and competitive with one another. Sometimes you walk down the street, see a woman in passing and she frowns at you. Oh, and my favorite, you and your girlfriends walk in one of your guy friends gathering and the women there give you the cold shoulder and began whispering. Awkward! They instantly size you up and ask themselves, "I wonder which one of these guys is she dating". First of all, "thirsty", "desperado", "I'm dating none of them, because if I were trust me you would have known about it before the party started". Okay, I'm back. They say that jealousy is a characteristic that is controlled by our ego and not ones true self. If one is not aware of the ego they will not be able to control jealousy. I find myself thinking a lot about human nature versus learned behavior. Are we created to be competitive with other women? Or, is competitiveness learned behavior? Something that we have picked up from home as early as childhood or the first story that our mother read to us.

Lets look back at the first books our parents and teachers read to us. They were usually in the genre of folklore. We began being entertained by fairy tales, such as "Mother Goose", "Cinderella", "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty" etc. Every little girl was always intrigued by the future princess and hoped to one day be her. We sat there on our little nap mat in school hoping that the poor little girl in those stories would win their prize in the end, "the man". During the entire story there is always another woman competing and trying to stop that young lady from winning her prince. Although the stories contribute some great attributes such as morals and values, underneath they instill images that affect us subconsciously. Typically the theme of these stories are "woman vs. woman".

We see in "Cinderella", she is not only belittled by her evil stepmother, she is also left to compete with her stepsisters for the handsome "Prince Charming". Throughout the story the stepsisters and mother try everything in their power to keep Cinderella from the Prince. At the beginning of the story "Snow white" we see the witch asking her mirror, "who is the fairest of them all"? Again there is a woman competing against another woman, because her beauty does not match Snow White. So one may ask, are we taught to compete and be jealous of women at a early age? If we look at most fairy tales we see women compete for the love and affection of a man. As do many women in the 21st century still tend to do. A lot of the bitterness and mean actions from one woman to another, usually stem from the fact that the other woman has the man. To make it so bad the men in these fairy tales are seen as so wholesome and innocent. The Prince Charming is always the savior in the end. He saves Cinderella from her evil stepmother and stepsisters. He breaks the sleeping spell of Snow White after she eats the apple that the old lady gave her. Not even those sweet seven little dwarfs could save her. We know who kissed and saved Sleeping Beauty from her spell.

I know women that have dated men that were in a relationship and they constantly compare themselves to the other woman and degrade her instead of him. Many times it does not even have to be a relationship situation, it could be woman vs. woman at the post office or the airport. No matter what race, women tend to be a bit aggressive with one another. My theory could be wrong but, I believe that indirectly stories that we grow up listening to can play apart in our adult lives. I'm not saying band your little ones from reading fairy tales, because overall I think that they teach us some great themes. Such as love, loyalty, values, morals etc. I find that being in control of your ego can prevent jealousy tirades. It just takes some effort. In these days and times I think that is very important for women to be supportive of one another and take that extra step to help your girlfriend, mother, aunt, sister, cousin or even a stranger.












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1 comment:

  1. During the entire story there is always another woman competing mltailor Halloween Outerwear For Women trying to stop that young lady from winning her prince.

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