Healing the Sister Wound: From Competition to Cooperation
For generations, women have been conditioned to mistrust one another. We’ve been told—subtly and not-so-subtly—that there isn’t enough room at the table, that another woman’s beauty is a threat, that her success somehow diminishes our own.
This is the sister wound: the pain, jealousy, insecurity, and competition that creep into our relationships with other women. It’s the collective trauma of living in a patriarchal system that has pitted us against each other, teaching us to compete rather than cooperate, to judge rather than witness, to withhold rather than celebrate.
And yet—if we look back far enough—we remember another story.
Our survival as women was once rooted in cooperation. We bled together in moon huts. We raised each other’s children. Mothers, grandmothers, and aunties shared the work of life. Our power was not in rivalry but in circle.
How the Sister Wound Shows Up
Jealousy and comparison
Gossip, judgment, exclusion
Distrust of women’s spaces
Fear of rejection or betrayal
A tendency to compete instead of collaborate
These patterns aren’t who we are—they’re symptoms of conditioning. And that means they can be healed.
Pathways to Healing
Healing the sister wound is both personal and collective. It looks like:
Self-awareness: noticing when you slip into judgment or comparison.
Questioning conditioning: asking, who benefits when women compete?
Boundaries: stepping back from toxic dynamics without closing your heart.
Supportive behavior: referring, praising, celebrating another woman’s wins.
Cultivating sisterhood: joining women’s circles and friendships rooted in truth.
Vulnerability: daring to be fully seen—messy, radiant, and real.
A Vision of Sisterhood
The antidote? Shifting the female gaze.
Instead of objectifying, we witness.
Instead of judging, we hold space.
Instead of competing, we expand the permission field—because when one woman frees herself, she frees us all.
When women relax around each other, our nervous systems remember: it’s safe here. And in that safety, we rediscover sisterhood.
Imagine what could happen if women trusted each other enough to co-create, not compete. Imagine a culture where sisterhood is the antidote to burnout, isolation, and self-doubt.
This is not a fantasy. It begins with us.
Join the Sisterhood Circle
If you’re ready to step into this work, to release the old stories and embody the magic of true sisterhood, I invite you to join me in The Sisterhood Circle. Together we’ll heal the wounds, rewrite the narrative, and remember what it means to rise side by side.
