The Source |Female Camaraderie: Does It Still Exist?

In the latest issue of The Source Magazine #274—on stands now— Journalist Courtney Brown covers the topic of Female Camaraderie. After witnessing many public spats between women on social media and everyday life, we raise the question, do women still support women?

In a world full of drama, cattiness and jealousy sometimes we have to wonder do women still even like women. While we have recently seen various female MC’s attack one another publicly, recent collaborations like Megan thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj give us hope that women can learn to lift one another up again.

Here’s an excerpt from the conversational feature in the newest The Source Magazine.

If you wander into the comment section of any gossip page on Instagram, you’ll bump into a myriad of comments about random women.  ‘That’s not real, she had her body done’…’She doesn’t deserve that’…’, ‘I just don’t like her’. While we are fortunate enough to witness feminists movements and celebrities who push the ‘Girls Rule The World’ theory, it’s also become the norm to witness everyday women tearing one another down.

The birth of social media has morphed into a gift and a curse.  It became a place to create revenue for entrepreneurs at every level also becoming a necessary tool for interacting with fans and promoting new material. The curse? These adored apps have made it easy for anyone with Wifi to voice their opinions without discretion on a platform where millions are watching.

Season after season we witness popular reality TV shows showcasing the breakdown of female companionships. Arguments, and disagreements are generally the format leading to friendships being torn down without any resolution or restoration.  Shade has become a new form of entertainment while insults are hurled, judgements are made and secrets are exposed all in the name of good TV. Cardi B and Nicki Minaj engaged in a very public dispute that sent their respective fans the ‘Bardi Gang’ and the ‘Barbies’ verbally attacking each other through social media.  While history has shown that hip hop fans enjoy a good rap battle, where is the line drawn?

Rapper Babs Bunny from the group Making Da Band and CEO of the female battle league Queen Of The Ring believes there is no line and women are made to feel there can only be one winner.  “I think it’s hard for females to support each other because there’s not too many open spots for us at the top. For so long its only been one or two females popping at the same time. So why should I support you and you might take the spot I want?” In hip hop, women can sometimes fare just as aggressive as their male counterparts and Babs is no stranger to that. “The worst insult I’ve heard in a Q.O.T.R. battle was when one of the girls spoke about her opponent having an abortion at a young age…the way she set it up was so disrespectful and shocking.” Despite the shock value of such vicious bars she insists it’s all fair game.  “There are no rules in battle rap. Only the strong will survive. Anything goes. You are fighting to win—you better hit below the belt!” Babs exclaims. “The girls know this is a sport when they step in the ring. No one likes a sore loser. Just like boxing… you fight, knock someone out and then stand next to each other and give an interview and talk about how great the fight was.”

For the rest of the article pick up your issue today. On stands and select drugstores and Barnes and Noble.