Female Friendships: The Importance, Challenges, and Types
Welcome, dear reader! As women, we all know that our friendships with other women are crucial to our mental health and well-being. Our girlfriends literally keep us sane when life gets overwhelming.
But as we navigate the ups and downs of life, our friendships often change and face challenges. In this article, we explore the impact of marriage on female friendships, share some case studies of women’s experiences with their female friends, and explore different types of female friendships.
The Impact of Marriage on Female Friendships
When the wedding bells start ringing, most women envision spending the rest of their lives with their soulmate. But the reality is that marriage brings with it a whole host of changes that can negatively impact female friendships.
As we become more entrenched in our marital lives, we may not have as much time or energy to devote to maintaining our precious female relationships. At first, our friendships may begin fading away slowly.
We may put off returning phone calls or texts until it’s too late, and before we know it, months have passed without seeing or talking to our friends. This change in dynamics can be a source of emotional release for some women while causing emotional distress for others.
In some cases, over time, we may find ourselves slowly growing apart from the women who were once our confidants and soulmates.
Case Studies of Women’s Experiences with Their Female Friends
Marie and Donna have been friends since college, but Marie’s marriage has changed the dynamics of their friendship.
She found herself increasingly distancing herself from Donna when she got married. Even when they are in the same room, her focus is on her husband, which left Donna feeling somewhat marginalized.
Janice has been married for 10 years, but she’s managed to maintain a healthy friendship with her best friend Sheila. Although they’re both busy with their lives, they’ve made a conscious effort to stay in touch and support each other.
Angela has been married for only two years, yet her best friend Stephanie has become distant. She recently confessed that she has some perceived hurtful experiences towards Stephanie since she got married. Angela feels like prioritizing her husband is vital, yet at the same time, she feels lost and misses her girl-time with Stephanie.
Balancing Female Friendships and Marital Commitments
It can be challenging to balance our female friendships and our marital commitments. After all, our husbands need us too.
However, we have to set boundaries and make our friendships a priority. When we set proper perspectives, often, our husbands don’t mind as we spend time with our girlfriends.
It is imperative to schedule periods, even for just an hour, to catch up with friends. We need to do this so that we can reconnect and stay close.
Remember that all relationships require effort to thrive, and friendships are no exception.
Types of Female Friendships
Lifelong Friendships
Some women are blessed with a ‘friends for life’ kind of friendship. These kinds of friendships transcend distance, time, and hardship.
They will always have each other’s backs, and when problems arise, they could always give each other support. Widows who become second-time brides also fit this category.
Often, those ladies have a group of girlfriends who have been with them through thick and thin. They are their sounding boards, pillars of strength, and even sponsored their weddings.
Familial Friendships
There is nothing stronger than a friendship built on the foundation of family. Sisters and twins often share a bond that is indescribable, and that connection is for life.
Supportive Friendships
These are friendships built on a foundation of mutual support. In this category, friends have gone through all sorts of experiences together.
These friendships have weathered the storm and grown stronger through thick and thin. For example, friends who became moms together, went through the ups and downs of parenthood.
And those who donate kidneys, whether a recipient or a donor, know how important it is to have a good friend by your side.
Suspicious Friendships
Not all female friendships are healthy. At times, women could be suspicious of each other or even outrightly hostile.
This type of friendship may be filled with competitions and jealousies. Women in this category may have intentionally or unintentionally hurt each other.
Sometimes, maturing and reframing these relationships could bring unexpected improvements.
Conclusion
Female friendships are essential to our lives, whether we are married or not. And, although life changes, it’s encouraged to embrace friends who have been there through thick and thin.
Thanks for joining this conversation, dear reader; let’s unite as a tribe and keep building life-long female relationships.
Maintaining Healthy Female Friendships in Marriage
As women, we cherish our female friendships, but as we enter into marriage, it isn’t always easy to balance both our relationships with our girlfriends and our marital commitments. In this section, we will discuss maintaining healthy female friendships in marriage by avoiding conflicts and problematic behavior, prioritizing our marriages, and recognizing red flags in our friendships.
Avoiding Conflicts and Problematic Behavior
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to maintaining female friendships in marriage is interference from our husbands, sudden changes of plans for every get-together, and even friends’ attitudes towards our choice of spouses. These issues could strain our friendships and dramatically alter our closeness.
It is crucial to put boundaries in place and communicate with open hearts. Keep the lines of communication open, so the people involved could express their perspectives and come to a mutual understanding.
Prioritizing Your Marriage
Although girl-time is important, it is essential not to let our friendships interfere with our marriage. Our husbands should always come first, even when it comes to our friends.
You could make use of resources from your marriage, work out schedules and ensure that your friends are aware of your limitations. Striking a balance between investing in your friendships and prioritizing your marriage is the key.
Consulting your husband before making plans with your friends is also crucial. Although our girlfriends admire and respect our marriage, they do not know what is going on behind closed doors.
Involving your husband in decisions concerning your engagements, boundaries, and plans could prevent conflicts and ensure you’re taking proper care of your home front.
Recognizing Red Flags
Although friendship requires work, effort, and time, maintaining an abusive friendship is just not worth it. If your friend is encouraging you to leave your husband, calling your husband names, or attempting to sabotage your marriage, it might be best to take a break from that friendship, or at least have several deep and meaningful conversations.
Having honest conversations doubles as being aware of how our loved ones react to our choices or behavior. Sometimes, friendships that we have had before marriage may not survive divorce, and it is okay to embrace the new possibilities that life brings.
Conclusion
Maintaining healthy female friendships in marriage is crucial for our mental and emotional well-being. Balancing our female friendships and our marital commitments is essential for our personal growth and happiness.
In summary, we have covered the importance of avoiding conflicts and problematic behavior, prioritizing our marriages, and recognizing red flags in our friendships. It is possible to maintain and grow our female friendships despite our marital commitments, as long as we have the proper perspective, boundaries, and priorities in place.
Let us all continue to cherish our female relationships, give to one another in love, and support each other through thick and thin. In conclusion, the importance of female friendships and marriages cannot be overemphasized.
As women, we value the bonds we create with other women, but as life takes us down different paths, maintaining those friendships can be challenging. In this article, we explored the impact of marriage on female friendships, shared some case studies of women’s experiences with their female friends, and explored different types of female friendships.
We also discussed maintaining healthy female friendships in marriage, such as avoiding conflicts and problematic behavior, prioritizing our marriages, and recognizing red flags in our friendships. By taking these steps, we can continue to cherish our female relationships and navigate the ups and downs of life while growing and supporting each other through thick and thin.
