How are relationships with other women (e.g. family members, friends, colleagues etc.) important to you?

‘My relationships with my female friends and family are super important to me. They are the foundation of my happiness in so many ways. They keep me happy, strong, motivated… they are the ones I turn to when I am down and always provide me with a great support mechanism as do I them.’

‘I have a lot more female friends than male. I think I find it easier to get on with other women and can relate to them more. I have a good relationship with my mum. I’m closer to her than my male family members. But I’m as just as close if not more with my boyfriend but I think that’s because I spend most of my time with him so I feel most comfortable with him.’

‘Women can relate to problems that men can’t. Relationships with other women help to assure me that I am not alone when I am scared to walk home alone at night and I am not overeacting when a man is following me. With men more explanation is needed and I begin to question myself when I tell these stories. Women just understand.’

‘They act as role models. I can relate experiences to them that men won’t relate to or understand.’

‘My relationship with my mother is very important to me and she’s been a big role model for being a woman I can look up to.’

‘I like other women to feel empowered and believe they can do anything, and that their gender (race, age and class) will not be the reason they fail at anything. Same goes towards men but of course in our society they are the favoured sex.’

‘Feel closer to women, feel they understand more.’

‘My relationships with other women are important to me because they provide support, guidance, and fuel my aspirations.’

‘It’s from other women that I learn about myself as a woman. My relationships with other women give me the space to be truer to my femininity without fear of judgment, I feel I can be more honest. They are so important to me as I find surrounding myself with other women means surrounding myself with an understanding support system. We face so many of the same situations that we can really support each other.’

‘I can go to my mum for advice and support.’

‘A listening ear, advice and support, love and laughs.’

‘Growing up I used to have a lot more male gender friends than female. I always found it difficult to get along with other women. Nowadays this has changed. It’s very important for me to have relationships with women as I find it easier to communicate with them about life. Having bonds/ relationships with a woman in my life has taught me a lot about community feeling, no matter where you are.’

‘My relationships with women are important to me because there is a sense of unity, even with women that I have only just met. I think to be a woman can be traumatic sometimes, and we have to face horrible things just because of our gender. This bonding between women is important to me as it makes me feel like I always have a friend around me even though they might be a stranger.’

‘Very important. We are kindred spirits. We connect instinctively, can sympathise, encourage and be a constant reminder to each other that we are loved and that someone always understands and ‘has our back’.’

‘Because without them, I would be nothing. Their strength and resolve inspire me to get through the troubled times and the pain of life’s hiccups.’

‘These relationships are significant to me because I believe they teach you how to be affectionate, kind, honest, and caring to others. My interactions with each group are different, for example, my friends bring out the fun in me, my family brings out the confidence in me, and my co-workers bring out the professionalism in me. Each of these characters made me learn how to be around people.’

‘Virtually all my relationships are with women! I not only feel more confident around them, I feel that my relationships with women always lead me to be doing greater things, and women seem to be more reliable and reciprocate more energy from me.’

‘Relationships with other women are important to me because it brings us all together as a community, I feel empowered and strengthened by other women. It’s so so important to me that we as women stand up together and not be bringing each other down.’

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