Cattiness is Ugly

I love women, not as a sexual preference, but because I have blessed to know some of the most amazing women through my lifetime. The first being my mother whose hug always seemed to be the safest place on earth when I was sad or happy. The women in my life have freely given me advice, given me a shoulder to cry on, and taught me how to be graceful and classy.  They have been second mothers, older and younger sisters, and best friends.

I have been lucky to have known my best friends since the third and fourth grade. We have always been honest with each other and supported each other. We are not the type of friends who talk behind each  other's back and as I get older, my appreciation for them continues to grow.

But at the same time, I've seen the ugly side of women and even myself. In college, I was friends with a bunch of upperclassmen who I regarded as my older sisters. They gave me advice and showed a naïve girl the ropes of life. Little did I know that these same girls would later turn on each other in the ugliest cat fight I have ever seen. I didn't know what fake was until I found myself in the company of these women. They opened my eyes to see that not every woman or even person is thinking for your benefit. Everyone does not wish you well or happy.

In my graduate class, I have seen such cattiness.; girls hating on other girls just because they are attractive. While waiting for the trolley one day, I saw a group of girls pick on one girl just because she was attractive. They were as young as fourteen or fifteen years old! Where do we learn our catty traits?  Why do we continue to hate on each other for silly things?

Sadly I feel as if I have seen slight strains of such cattiness on PNN. I love being on this site primarily because it allows me to post my creative musings and second because of the feedback from other people who seem to share my passion of writing. Most of the comments have been very encouraging and I look forward to all opinions. I've read some of the funniest postings and some of the most heartbreakingly transparent posts at the same time. Everyone has something valuable to say and I feel like we are not all getting a fair chance to share.  I feel as if I have something in common with a majority of the writers on this site, whether it is something as frivolous as shoes or something as deep as a painful past. I hope that this can be the one place where we can put our cattiness aside and just support each other wholeheartedly. I don't expect everyone to get along or even agree with each other's postings but damn it, can we give each other the freedom to express it at least?