Womens Best Friendships

"With heartfelt first-person accounts and insightful commentary from the author, this book examines three intertwining themes: feelings of competition, issues of dependence and independence, and knowing/understanding. It sheds light on areas of tension among women, especially difficulties in communication, frustration about not being entirely let into a friend's life and thought processes, and the feeling that one friend may value the friendship more than the other."--BOOK JACKET.

Explore the distinct relationships of close female friends!Women’s Best Friendships: Beyond Betty, Veronica, Thelma, and Louise gives new and comprehensive insight into the complex world of women’s closest friendships. Recent studies have shown that women place enormous value on best friendships and consider them to be woven tightly into the fabric of their lives. Using in-depth interviews, along with close readings of relevant literature and theory, this book focuses on the many facets of these relationships. With heartfelt first-person accounts and insightful commentary from the author, this book examines three intertwining themes: feelings of competition, issues of dependence and independence, and knowing/understanding. This book sheds light on areas of tension among women, especially difficulties in communication, frustration about not being entirely let into a friend’s life and thought processes, and the feeling that one friend may value the friendship more than the other. It also discusses women’s struggles to maintain closeness over increased distances and the realization that one’s friends are flawed, even as friends. This informative book, grounded in established research and theory, presents stories of real friendships--told by the people who live them. These women talk candidly about what makes a best friend, about navigating the choppy waters of friendship, and much more: “Somehow, when we started living farther apart there were ways in which we were being insensitive. We recognized that there was a really strong bond, but we were taking it for granted. So we talked about how close we feel to one another and perhaps how that leads to some arguments or hurt feelings.” --Liz, on how distance has affected her relationship with her best friend Susan“Em and I don’t fight at all. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I don’t think I do well with fights. I think that’s probably a lot of conflict avoidance on my part. And I think it does lead to some distance, even though it’s a best friendship. I think I’m uncomfortable asserting myself. And so it’s easier not to have to do that. So maybe my inability to deal with the problems keeps the friendship at a distance, where it’s safe and comfortable for me, in that one respect.” --Linda, about her desire to avoid any confrontation with Emily, her best friendWomen’s Best Friendships: Beyond Betty, Veronica, Thelma, and Louise is a fresh and exciting look at the inner workings of relationships between women. Drawing upon a multitude of issues and insights, this book is a must-have for women’s studies classes.

"This book beautifully presents original research and in so doing recasts conventional understandings of such sociological topics as friendship, marriage, and community. The scholarship is superior."--Carole Joffe, Bryn Mawr College "This book beautifully presents original research and in so doing recasts conventional understandings of such sociological topics as friendship, marriage, and community. The scholarship is superior."--Carole Joffe, Bryn Mawr College

The bestselling author of Funny, You Don't Look Like a Grandmother turns to a subject central in every woman's life--friendship--in a glowing, heartwarming celebration that's certain to appeal to women across generations. 10 photos. 2-color throughout.

Best Friends provides the missing link to understanding and recognizing the impact of some of the most important relationships in girls' and women's lives. Every woman remembers the sting of betrayal of a girlfriend, and every parent of a daughter has seen her come home from school in tears because a girl she thought was her best friend suddenly and inexplicably became her enemy. While boys hash out differences with fists and kicks, girls' societies are marked by secrets and whispers and shifting affection. The lessons learned as an adolescent girl are often carried into adulthood, making women fear confrontation--especially with other women. But the intensity of the struggles reflects the support and healing to be found within these friendships. Girls find themselves in the mirror of other girls, hence the power each has to influence the other. Ruthellen Josselson and Terri Apter's many years of working with hundreds of girls and women have given them insight into the emotionally important relationships that are integral to a girl's self-image. Best Friends explores the bonds of friendship between girls and between women and the sorrows and joys they experience together, from early adolescence and throughout their lives.

In this heartwarming new celebration in words and pictures, women of all ages and walks of life give us inspiring glimpses of their special relationships with their canine companions. There's Donnasue and her German shepherd, Leo, who race each other to answer the telephone, and Deborah, who shares the fun of running down sand dunes with her Scottish deerhounds, Traveller and Irene. Shirley and her Doberman pinscher, Gunna, love exploring the woods and fields, while Cindy and her collie, Tennyson, prefer to hit the open road. Ann takes Koa and Falk swimming in a Hawaiian lagoon, and Cynthia dines with Charlie at the best restaurants in France. We meet service dogs like Meko, the hearing ear dog, Bear, the police K-9, and Clea, a Great Pyrenees who keeps away the neighborhood cougar. We are also introduced to dogs who have made a profound impact on women's lives, like George, who prevented a house fire, Georgette, who helped a young girl through her parents' divorce, and Cole Porter, who kept his owner from taking a plane destined to crash. And we meet dogs just as memorable for being nothing more than their affectionate, fun-loving selves. The experiences described in these stories have inspired dedication, loyalty, admiration, and, above all, long-lasting friendship. Women portray their dogs as faithful buddy, fearless hero, and riotous clown. They demonstrate how dogs have transformed and added new dimensions to their lives. And they leave us with a magnificent testament to the enduring warmth and love between women and their dogs.

'Text me when you get home.' After joyful nights out together, female friends say this to one another as a way of cementing their love. It's about safety but, more than that, it's about solidarity. A validation of female friendship unlike any that's ever existed before, Text Me When You Get Home is a mix of historical research, the author's own personal experience, and conversations about friendships with women across the country. Everything Schaefer uncovers reveals that these ties are making us, both as individuals and as society as a whole, stronger than ever before.

A Washington Post Notable Book of 2017. Deborah Tannen's bestselling You Just Don't Understand: Conversations Between Women and Men made us aware of the deep and subtle meanings behind the words we say. She has since explored the way we talk at work, in arguments, to our mothers and our daughters. Now she turns to that most intense, precious and potential minefield: women's friendships. Best friend, old friend, good friend, new friend, neighbour, fellow mother at the school gate, workplace confidante: women's friendships are crucial. A friend can be like a sister, daughter, mother, mentor, therapist or confessor. She can also be the source of pain and betrayal. From casual chatting to intimate confiding, from talking about problems to sharing funny stories, there are patterns of communication and miscommunication that affect friendships. Tannen shows how even the best of friends - with the best intentions - can say the wrong thing, how the ways women friends talk can bring friends closer or pull them apart, but also how words can repair the damage done by words. She explains the power of women friends who show empathy and can just listen; how women use talk to connect - and to subtly compete; how fears of rejection can haunt friendships; how social media is reshaping relationships. Exploring what it means to be friends, helping us hear what we are really saying, understanding how we connect to other people; this illuminating and validating book gets inside the language of one of most women's life essentials - female friendships.

In her heart of hearts every woman knows that men may come and go but a true friend is forever. Includes stories, anecdotes, and poems to warm any woman's heart.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Sparkling… A sure hit with women’s fiction fans.” —Publishers Weekly Dance till dawn Go skydiving Wear a bikini in public Start living Two best friends jump-start their lives in a summer that will change them forever… Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content—until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to his dream college because she needs him too much. If she wants him to live his best life, she has to convince him she’s living hers. So Unity Leandre, her best friend since forever, creates a list of challenges to push Ellen out of her comfort zone. Unity will complete the list, too, but not because she needs to change. What’s wrong with a thirtysomething widow still sleeping in her late husband’s childhood bed? The Friendship List begins as a way to make others believe they’re just fine. But somewhere between “wear three-inch heels” and “have sex with a gorgeous guy,” Ellen and Unity discover that life is meant to be lived with joy and abandon, in a story filled with humor, heartache and regrettable tattoos. Don't miss The Happiness Plan, a new novel coming from #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery where three women experience hope, heartache, and the power of friendship as they search for true happiness!