We here at MangoBaaz love women. And before you get cheeky, I am a woman. We love women’s rights, equality and YEAH, we’re big fans of feminism (if you haven’t noticed). Women go through so so so (sosososososososososososo) much.

And before any men reading this article decide to refute that statement –

Childbirth. Okay? Childbirth. Bus.

And speaking of, before all the male readers get annoyed and move on to the next (amazing) MangoBaaz article, this is not a ‘we hate all men’ tirade. In fact, we love men! But this article isn’t about you guys, this is for all the lovely women out there who have to admit to something much more important than anything to do with men (sorry fellas).

Now, that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s one thing women NEED to learn to not do:

Women are horrible to other women. There, I said it.

Because women are such strong individuals who have the ability and power to excel in every facet of life, it’s ironic that we are the ones to put each other down.

Everyone knows what I’m talking about here, the girl with the ‘reputation,’ the girl with the ‘attitude,’ the ‘bitch’ and the ‘super annoying fixie.’ These are the things we all are guilty of calling other girls, regardless of them being true or not.

It may seem like an insignificant thing to say, especially when it’s behind someone else’s back but really – it’s not.

The smallest of comments and actions create the biggest of waves.

Of course, it’s not completely our fault, society and our social constructs have brought us up in a competitive environment. From the first time day of Montessori, we are pitted up against each other.

‘Uskeh baal dekho‘

‘Uskeh kapray?‘

‘Uskah EVERTHING’

Immediately we are pushed to be better, smarter and ugh, prettier than the girls around us. Instead of supporting one another, we jump at any chance to criticize girls around us. We may not even be aware of it, it just happens.

Do you really think it matters if Sidrah has better clothes than you? Is it really going to effect your life in any way if Sarah gets into a better college than you? More than that do you talking shit about people is really going to make yours any better? NoooOoOo. No, no, no and nope. We need to make it stop, the cycle has to end.

Certain actions call for certain repercussions.

Whether we know it or not, what we’re saying will somehow always effect someone.

I don’t want to get all ’13 reasons why’ on anyone, but it’s true.

Messed up nah? We agree.

The things you say or the way you act is a direct reflection of your own values. Women have enough to deal with on their own, it makes no sense for us to turn on each other.

To every girl out there, the next time you’re tempted to bring another girl down, just think about what you’re going to get out of it. What kind of value is it going to bring into your life? Think about all the times you wish you had someone standing up for you, someone to lean on and someone to hold your hand when no one else did.

To some of you, everything in this article may sound completely dramatic and over exaggerated but if you’re shaking your head in agreement with the rest of us, it’s time to take some action.

It’s time to realize that women are very very badass.

We really are amazing, we do amazing things and create amazing people and live amazing lives.

We all have enough problems being women and on top in Pakistan especially so we don’t need to make things worse for ourselves. It’s time for women everywhere to start building each other up instead of breaking them down. Love to all of you badass women out there, larki love everywhere.

Cover image via: dawn.com