Sisterhood

Sisterhood. Sorority. The union of women.

I grew up in a female environment: my mum, my grandma, my sisters. Even the cats were female. For the earliest period of my life, I attended a nun-run, female-only school. I even define as a witch, a traditionally female role. I may not have intended it, but I certainly learned the value of female inter-support.

Many people talk about the strength that a sense of brotherhood grants its group; army life, for example, is highly dependent on the feelings fraternity brings to the battlefield. Similarly, one finds it creeping through as a sign of sturdy reliability on each other for organisations such as the Masons, gangs, or even college houses. On the other hand, female relationships are often observed with a certain level of mistrust, women considered more prone to backstabbing and 'catfighting' over minor issues. As such, their unions and clubs, their societies, receiving less praise, are kept in a greatly shaded area.

I'm here, today, to stand for sisterhood, for female connection, for all the gifts inherent in being in a community of women.

I'm not interested in bashing male bonding, let along flagellate anyone into submission to feminism (I'd first have to choose one kind, then fully believe in it). I just want to remind us all that female cooperation is constructive to all its members, and to those around them; that in a time where bullying and sexism insidiously undermine us all, hidden under language PC codes or over-sensitised negation, there is beauty in supporting other women while breaking gender stereotypes.

So, here is to the women who have inspired me throughout life: my mother, my sisters, my aunts, my grandmothers, my stepmother, my friends, and all the women who have shown that community is magical, that we can get ahead by propping each other up, rather than by stepping up alone. Female communities, like hives or colonies, promote the care of all its members, allowing for more generous behaviours within and without the group. Each one of us, feeding on the emotional and physical closeness granted to females, feed in turn those around us.

Sisterhood, the blessing of being a woman among women