Zooey Deschanel stated in the February issue of Elle magazine that we need to graduate from girl on girl hate.
She was asked about the fact that girliness seems to often imply weakness. Her response was absolutely beautiful and one I agree with wholeheartedly.
There has been a shift. I really have stood up for myself on multiple platforms. It’s sort of the grown-up version of middle-school nastiness, and I’m just like, come on. If there’s one thing I’d like to graduate from, it’s girl-on-girl hate. I don’t believe in it.
Feminism And Girliness
Can feminism and girliness exist hand in hand? Do you have to be without any femininity to be a feminist? According to Zooey:
We can’t be feminine and be feminists and be successful? I want to be a f**king feminist and wear a f**king Peter Pan collar. So f**king what?
I actually agree with her. Just because a girl likes to wear make up and be girly, so to speak, does not mean that she is weak or cannot be a feminist. It does not mean that she cannot stand and fight against oppression — and, by perpetuating these ideas of what a feminist is supposed to be, we seriously narrow what feminism is supposed to be about.
Graduating From Girl On Girl Hate
Feminism is supposed to be about getting rid of hate and oppression of all — not just hatred and oppression of women, but of all people, regardless of race, biological sex, gender, sexual identity, religion, any of it. It is our purpose to stand up for all and to empower others. We need to practice encouraging others, including our fellow women, regardless of whether they are girly or not, because what matters is the same fight being fought together and reaching out to others.
As Zooey said, we need to gradate from girl on girl hate. It’s petty and childish. It is also feeding into the system that is in place that we are trying to stop. It is not reaching out to others, but isolating others from us that may need the help that feminism has to offer in fighting for social justice.
Focus instead on standing with one another and not putting each other down. We need to encourage and not tear down or break spirits just because someone does not fit an ideal. That is the very thing that is trying to be stopped and it has to begin with us.
Edited by DH.
