I was reading a lovely book called A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. In the book there is a chapter about an brand new, unwed mother who loves her baby completely despite her unfortunate circumstance. It talks about the other women on the block who heckle her, and even throw rocks at her (which ceases only when a stray rock hits her baby boy, causing him to bleed).
This is all observed by Francie, a 13 year old girl who can't understand why these women are being so cruel. It says:
"Remember Joanna. Remember Joanna. Francie could never forget her. From that time on, remembering the stoning women, she hated women. She feared them for their devious ways, she mistrusted their instincts. She began to hate them for this disloyalty and their cruelty to each other. Of all the stone-throwers, not one had dared to speak a word for the girl for fear that she would be tarred with Johanna's brush.
Most women had one thing in common: they had great pain when they gave birth to their children. This should be a bond that held them all together; it should make them love and protect each other against the man-world. But it was not so. They stuck together for only one thing: to trample on some other woman...whether it was by throwing stones or by mean gossip. It was the only kind of loyalty they seem to have."
I have been blessed, unlike Francie, to be surrounded and raised by strong, confident, loving, compassionate women. The disloyalty of women that Francie perceives is not uncommon, but it is not as absolute. I love being a woman and I love being a part of the universal sisterhood, and it is my belief as women and especially as mothers raising children that will socialize and run the world together we should stick together and as Francie suggests "love and protect each other."
Ask yourself, have you done something lately to uplift and love a fellow sister?
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