"I Was So Proud To Be A Girl In That Moment": Women Are Recalling The Times When Other Women Had Their Back, And It's So Incredibly Touching
Women are incredible in many, many ways, but one thing we're especially good at is being there for each other. Recently, Redditor u/Hairy-Swordfish3194 asked people to share the best "girls supporting girls" moments they've witnessed or experienced, and the responses did not disappoint. In fact, I kind of (definitely) teared up while reading them. Here are some of the most wholesome, inspiring, and sweetest stories:
1."I'm 18, and I went to a concert alone for the first time this year. While in the queue, I was surrounded by groups of guys who kept checking me out. It made me really nervous, and I honestly thought about leaving. Suddenly, this girl came over to me and said that I looked lonely, then she asked if I wanted to join her group. I ended up having an amazing time with all of them, and they made me feel a whole lot safer."
2."I have a distinct memory of New Year's Eve in Seoul, Korea. My cousin had a few too many tequila shots, and we ended up both in the bathroom stall. I was trying to hold her hair back while she was heaving over the toilet, and the whole time I was exclaiming, 'OMG, your hair!' Due to all the commotion, I must have forgotten to lock the stall door, because suddenly, a random arm popped into the stall offering a single black hair elastic. I immediately grabbed it and yelled, 'Thank you!' I never did see who gave us the hair tie, but I felt so proud to be a girl in that moment."
3."My friends and I went on a wine trip once, and we decided to get tattooed together. While at the parlor, there was a little girl who came to get her ears pierced. She was about six or seven and it was totally her choice, but we could tell she was nervous. We hyped her up and told her that she'd be fine, but once she got her piercings, we heard her start to cry a little. As soon as she walked out, my friends and I all lost our minds and immediately started praising her, saying stuff like, 'OH MY GOD, YOU LOOK AMAZING!' That little girl's smile is forever in my brain. She immediately lit up the whole building. She must have been so excited to hit this milestone and be a 'big girl.'"
4."I was going through airport security in LA some years back when the button holding the strap of my dress in place just randomly popped off. It was such a crowded area, and the top half of my dress was ready to fall and expose my chest. Within SECONDS, women from all around me surrounded me, held up the part of my dress that was falling, grabbed a safety pin, and had me pinned back in place. Meanwhile, another woman walked to a store straight out of security to see if she could find a travel sewing kit for me. Women keep an eye on other women, especially those who are alone, and we are ready to assist immediately. That experience renewed my faith in other women, and reminded me how important it is to look out for one another."
5."I have Tourette syndrome. My friend and I were having drinks together at a bar, and we had just ordered a shot to take together. My tics started acting up and I lost control of my hands, and I couldn't hold the glass without potentially accidentally hurling it at someone. I tried a couple times, but had to put it down. So my friend was like, 'Want me to just pour this shot into your mouth for you?' I said yes, and she fed me the shot of tequila. It was so funny, and it actually made me feel less self-conscious about my Tourettes. We must have looked wild, but I felt very cared for in that moment."
6."My period leaked through my beige shorts one time when I was in high school. I had no idea until a girl ran up to me and wrapped her sweatshirt around my waist. She never asked for the sweatshirt back. This was 15 years ago, but I still think about how kind of a gesture that was."
7."When I was in my mid-20s, I went on a date with a guy at a nicer restaurant. We had some mutual friends, but had only socially met a few times beforehand. It was late fall-early winter, so I wore a cute sweater, jeans, and some heels. I was dressed appropriately for the restaurant we were at. But then, while getting an after-dinner cocktail, we ran into our mutual friends, who were on their way to a club. I was NOT dressed for a club, but got talked into going anyway. After the drink, I became acutely aware of how I was dressed — I felt like I looked like someone's mom. I mean, wearing a sweater to the club? So, I headed to the bathroom to find a mirror and see if I could somehow make my sweater more club-appropriate. Then, a group of girls walked in and immediately knew what I was trying to do."
"They hyped me up and said I looked amazing — that my sweater made my boobs look good and that my butt looked great in my pants. They even let me try one of their lipsticks because they said it would look great on me. After those girls were done praising me, I'd never felt so good about myself. The women's bathroom is a magical place."
8."My tiny 15-year-old ass decided that crowd surfing at a Nickelback concert was a good idea. I was dropped and nearly stepped on. I remember a girl putting herself over me — protecting me — and pulling me back to my feet. I'm still grateful for that."
9."I'm a woman who travels, camps, and long-haul roadtrips OFTEN. Growing up, most of my bullies were other females. I have some women BFFs, but I'm as wary of women as I am of men because of my bad experiences with bullies. But traveling alone has really changed that. It's a wonderful little club. Women who were traveling in groups or with their partners or families would go out of their way to check in on me. They'd establish friendly conversation and share meadow reports, and enough rapport would be established that it was clearly implied that we could ask each other for help if we needed to."
"Female park rangers would even make sure I knew how to find the women on duty in the host camps if I needed them. When I was on my hiking road trip, it was so unexpected that every woman I encountered was amicable and friendly. I've never really experienced camaraderie like that before. It was giving 'drunk girl in the bar bathroom' energy, but the slow, steady, and sturdy version of it. It was transformative."
10."One time, in a bar, a girl I didn't know approached me and asked for a tampon. I told her I didn't have any, and in fact, was kind of in the same situation as her. She looked me straight in the eye and promised me that she'd find tampons for the both of us. 10 minutes later, she actually came back and handed me a tampon."
11."My 13-year-old daughter had just wrapped up eight performances of a local community theatre production where she was the lead. Her bestie attended at least three of the shows, and each time during curtain call, she stood up and screamed, 'Woohoo, that's my bestie! Way to go!' I told my daughter that having a hype girl on your side is an irreplaceable gift."
12."This is just a recent silly example that came to mind. I was sitting outside of a Starbucks, and there was a group of tween girls hanging around. They started playing truth or dare, and they dared one girl to sing out loud. She did, and the other girls were just like, 'Wow, that was actually really good, Ashley!' Then, they dared each other to go compliment a stranger. One girl came up to me and said she liked my phone case. I just thought it was all very wholesome and cute."
13."I was at a dear friend's bachelorette party, and us ladies went out to do karaoke. Once we were feeling good and drunk, we naturally all sang 'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac. Of course, we all started crying and telling our bride-to-be how happy we were for her and how much we loved her. It was wonderful!"
14."I'm a nurse, and I work in a unit that's almost exclusively female staff. One of our coworkers was in an abusive relationship and needed to flee with her children. She was worried because she didn't feel safe; she didn't have any extra money or a place to stay. The rest of the staff (there were eight of us) got a fund together and moved her and her children out of the house and into one of our coworker's family summer cabin. We made all of this happen in 48 hours. She lived there rent-free with her kids for a couple of months while she got herself together, and then she got her own place with her kids. When women come together to help other women, they are unstoppable."
15."I work with models, and you'd be surprised how many of them can only see their flaws. They're under tremendous pressure to look a certain way, so before a group shoot, you can see and feel them getting flustered. The greatest thing, though, is how they hype each other up in those moments. There are genuine and sincere compliments going around, tips being said, and they help each other with costumes and makeup. It makes my job more fulfilling because all the women I work with are so beautiful inside and out."
16."I was in a bar during my last week of college when my very creepy and abusive ex showed up. Without going into detail, he had no reason being there, and it was extremely off-putting. I asked a friend to hit the bathroom with me and told her what was up. Without fail, literally all of the seven girls or so in the bathroom — even the girl in the stall — were enthusiastically offering support. Aside from my friend, I didn't know who any of them were, so to see how quickly they all rallied behind me genuinely made me feel so much better."
17."I was 16 at an all-girls conference. I was walking outside with a big group of girls, and somehow, bird poop landed on my hand. Right away, I was handed several packs of tissues and bottles of sanitizer by the other girls. One thing about girls and women: our purses are full of supplies, and we're always ready to help a girl in need!"
18."My best friend had a very rough divorce. Her husband was messing around with other women while they were in the last few months of their marriage, and he was telling the other women that my best friend was already his ex. One of the other women felt something was up and didn't believe all the things he was saying, so she cut him off and contacted my friend. They had lunch, and she ended up telling my friend everything her husband had been saying about her. Fast-forward about a year and a half, the two of them are now good friends, and I even hang out with her, too. She's a great, solid person, and he's long gone. Gotta love it."
19."I was in a really dark and depressing place at one point, so I kind of isolated myself from everyone. I didn't tell my friends what was going on, but they could sense I was having a hard time. One day, they left me a bottle of wine, flowers, crystals, and handwritten notes saying how much they love me. Recalling this memory makes me tear up, and to this day, I still reread those notes whenever I'm feeling down."
20."The first job I worked at was at an amusement park, and the locker room was huge. We were all young, around 14 or 15, and there was a girl in the locker room crying because she'd just gotten dumped. The bustling locker room quickly turned into a hugging and counseling session, where all the girls huddled around her, offering their support. We didn't even really know each other at the time. It was so wholesome."
21."I had a pregnant client timidly ask if I could reverse a portion of her recent monthly charge because she was a little short and could really use the help. It was something like $10, so I told her that I'd take a look and see what I could do. We went through her history, and I decided that she should have had a different type of account. I credited her back $100 or something. I told her that I'd gone ahead and reversed some past fees, and then I showed her the new balance. She looked at me and was like, 'Are you serious?' and just started bawling her eyes out. I started crying with her, and every time I think about it, I just start tearing up."
22."One time, I was road tripping with some friends and one of my friend's new girlfriend. I'd never met her before, but she was quickly able to tell that I had a crush on one of the guys we were traveling with, despite me trying to be as subtle as possible. Well, I got incredibly car sick on the first day, and once we got to our hotel for the night, the guys went grocery shopping. It was just my friend, the new girlfriend, and me in the hotel room, and I ended up completely destroying the bathroom. I was so embarrassed because we were all sharing the space, and the most horrifying thing when you're 19 is when a guy you like knows you poop. Before I even opened the bathroom door completely, New Girlfriend handed me some medicine and asked if I needed anything else. It was really sweet of her, but there wasn't any spray or anything to fix the bathroom before my crush got back."
"Eventually, the guys came back, but before any conversation could happen, New Girlfriend told them that she had gotten sick from the drive, and that she was sorry about the bathroom. I almost cried happy tears. They made fun of her the rest of the trip, and it never fazed her. To this day, it was the greatest act of solidarity I've ever seen. I totally hooked up with my crush during that trip, but most importantly, New Girlfriend was the Maid of Honor at our wedding!"
23."I'm in an online mom group. It started 25 years ago as a text-only message board, where new mothers talked about raising their kids, work-life balance, and the like. Members have come and gone, but we're still a core group of about 50 women. We've gone beyond supporting each other through motherhood, and now we help each other through caring for our elderly parents, cancer, divorce, grief, and of course, we celebrate the good things in life. The babies we raised are now getting married, having their own babies, getting PhDs, and experiencing life. I didn't have a great local group of mom friends, so this online group filled the gap graciously."
24.Last but not least: "Support shows up in big movie-like moments, but it also appears in the small things. I have a group of friends, with four of us in total. In our group chat, we always send 'text me when you get home' messages, and if one of us forgets to send a text, we call to make sure. I don't have kids, but the other three do. The four of us are at every birthday party, and not just in presence. We show up early and help set up, and we stay late and help clean up. Last weekend, one of my friends was throwing a surprise party for her daughter. One of our other friends made sure everyone dressed in theme, another brought makeup and party supplies, and I made party favors to hand out. We take care of each other's kids, we've shown up at each other's houses in the middle of the night to hold each other during hard times, and we break news to each other first and foremost."
"All of us are either engaged or married, and our husbands are great, but girls understand girls on a different level. I didn't really understand the whole 'it takes a village' sentiment until I met these ladies and became part of their village. We plan surprise parties for each other, coordinate our outfits, and we raise each other's kids. It's unity like no other."
BRB, gonna text all my girl besties how much I love and appreciate them. Have you ever witnessed or experienced a powerful or just completely wholesome "girls supporting girls" moment? Let me know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit a story using this form!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.