If I could say one thing about feminism or the advancement of women it would be that we have to be on our own side. Who else is going to fight for women, if not women?

It’s become part of our culture, part of the way we are socialized and it’s a common theme on television and in movies that women are supposed to be enemies. Well, I am not buying it.

The way we are socialized to deal with women in power is first that they don’t deserve our respect. Then when they demand respect, they become bitches.

As women who want to empower women, we have to first respect and acknowledge the authority of women in power and then work with powerful women to become the best we can be.

I think Tina Fey outlined this point best in her book “Bossypants.”

“Girls get a lot of mixed messages—they are told, ‘Girl Power!’ and what does that mean? It means you wear a T-shirt that says, ‘Girl Power!’ but you call each other bitches,” Fey wrote. I couldn’t have articulated it better myself.

We aren’t teaching women to work together, we are teaching them to work apart and to (even worse) work against each other.

We are already competing with men for our place in the world, there is no reason we should be fighting among ourselves or trying to take down other women in power.

This argument goes the other way around too, there are women in powerful positions who fall prey to the misogynistic culture and use their authority to shit on other women. Those women aren’t doing any favors for feminism either.

If I am in a position of leadership and authority, I want those under me to succeed. However, I also expect to be respected in my position of authority despite my gender.

I shouldn’t be called a bitch for asking others to pull their weight. Call me a jerk; call me an asshole. Don’t call me a bitch, because you are attacking me for being a woman in power, and if that’s all that word means then I am proud to be a bitch.

If a bitch is woman doing what would go uncommented on if a man did it, then I definitely want to be one.

You male boss might be a jerk, but you probably still do what he asks you to do. If you can’t do what a woman asks you to do, that’s a problem. It’s a problem for me, it’s a problem for you. It’s a problem for society.

So, do feminism a favor and get on the side of women. We are trying to make the world make room for us, and the stigma of being a bitch isn’t going to hold us back.

As Tina Fey would say, “Bitches get stuff done.”