Women are women’s worst enemies

The variety of style and fashion in Europe’s capitals fascinates me and while I was travelling through quite a few of them, I often found myself starring at other women. I did it unintentionally. In quite a few instances the woman I was looking at noticed my look and started to look up and down on herself, self-consciously checking her body and clothes. Some even started to nervously go through their hair or adjust their clothes.

It made me think about the amount of pressure lots of women experience regarding their public presentation especially at their places of work. It is probably not only the looks but also their intellect and performance that women are very conscious about and that put an enormous amount of pressure on women to compete especially with other on women. Women are very competitive among themselves. I have experienced it at work before, where other women become very intense and real control freaks when it comes to the performance of others. They start looking out for the mistakes of other women and make it a point to call it out. Interestingly, they are often much more relaxed about the male counterparts on the same issue. It might not always be conscious or deliberate but, I believe, is often driven by insecurities.

We are so full of self-doubt that we forget that we are all beautiful beings and that the person opposite us has similar insecurities and issues. I have promised myself to share more embracing looks and compliments with fellow women. I will intend to take the competitiveness out of the workplace. I hope this will inspire you to think about it as well....

“Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, “make me feel important”. Never forget this message when working with people.” – Mary Kay Ash