An unfortunate yet common experience many women have as we lead our lives or accomplish certain goals is dealing with women who, instead of supporting us, act petty or compete with us. Some women behave this way for many reasons. These are toxic women.
One of the top reasons why toxic women act this way is because they are insecure within themselves. When a woman sees parts of another woman’s life that make her feelings surface, she can respond in two different ways. She can either admire these traits and work towards them personally or envy and copy them verbatim because she feels threatened.
Those women who admire the strengths of others can do so because they are confident in themselves and know that reaching certain goals, whether in a career, relationship, or fitness, takes work and dedication. These women would rather focus their energies on putting in the effort than envying them.
Then, there are the women who admire other women, but instead of being themselves, they try to duplicate her and become a carbon copy. This outcome is rarely fulfilling and must be exhausting.
The path of envy always leads to disappointment.
Another reason toxic women behave this way is that they try to control and manipulate everything to achieve the outcomes they desire. They believe that to move up in life, they must dominate others. The truth is that this probably comes from a place of anxiety. And if things don’t go her way, she spirals and can act ruthless and rude. You can regain control by setting clear boundaries and cutting yourself off from this behavior.
I’ve discussed this in a previous blog post titled “Not Always as It Seems.” Some women act toxic because they feel the need to be praised by others. Getting a “like” on social media will mean nothing unless you like yourself. Don’t live your life out loud so much that you rely on strangers to validate your worth. Clearly, what is portrayed to others, especially when it’s exaggerated, isn’t always truthful.
Dealing with competitive, jealous, and petty women sadly happens a lot. This happens with strangers, friends, and even family. But it doesn’t make it acceptable. It does help to know where the behaviors stem from. People always have a reason for what they do. When you understand this, it’s easier to handle it.
Every woman comes from a different background and has different strengths, tastes, hobbies, and goals. As women, we should never try to make another woman feel less than us.
