Strong women support other women…or so they say.

”When women support other women, incredible things happen.” Unknown

I’ve seen this quote in my social media feed…a lot. I bet you have too. And, why not? It’s inspirational.

But is it really what women do? We all want to think so. Right?

I have seen two very striking examples this week of that not being the case. And this has me wondering…are we living this in our everyday lives?

Are we teaching the next generation of women, our daughters, to truly support other women?

Here’s one for you—my high school daughter plays varsity basketball. The cheerleaders show up for the game, all decked out in their cheer outfits and pretty bows, pom poms in hand.

The problem is—they don’t cheer. They sit in the stands and talk, paying zero attention to the girls basketball game. No half time show, no shouts of encouragement, not a peep.

I wonder why they bothered to show up anyway. I would be angry as a mom, who paid so much money for my daughter to participate in cheer and didn’t in fact cheer. (People, it’s a lot of money. More than my two girls each playing two sports a year.)

Then this happened the same week: again, my high school daughter played a basketball game against a rival team on a Saturday. (No cheerleaders showed up.) This rival school is good. I won’t take that away from them. They have exceptional ball handling skills and can shoot 3-pointers for days. Our girls, even though good, we’re struggling.

The rival team chose to make fun of their play. Instead of concentrating on their game, they insulted and mocked fellow female athletes. How is this good sportsmanship? 

Again, what happened to women supporting women? Is this something we only post inspirational quotes on IG and FB because it’s the thing to do?

What purpose does it serve if we don’t actually practice what we preach?

Now, our girls (our basketball team) will go on to be successful because of their grit and determination. I have no doubt. But I wonder at what cost?

At what cost will experiencing such blatant disrespect for fellow women athletes have on them now, and in the future?

♥️

I will leave you with this:

(Feel free to repost the graphic and link back here.)