Lessons Women Should Consider From The Hit Movie “Girls Trip”

If you’ve yet to see Girls Trip, then you’re pretty much living underneath a rock. Girls Trip screams empowerment, liberation and sisterhood, while educating its audience on what it means to live your life to the fullest.

The success of Girls Trip showed an all-Black, female led cast too can be a box-office hit while inspiring, motivating and engaging women of all shapes, backgrounds and races. With that being said, here are some lessons all women should embrace after seeing Girls Trip.

It’s Okay To Know You’re Better Than A Situation And Leave.

At some point in our lives we’ve all battled an ordeal that challenged who we were and created who we needed to be. This notion perfectly describes the experience of Girls Trip character “Ryan Pierce” (Regina Hall). Ryan is definitely living a seemingly wonderful life. She’s a best-selling author, married to football sensation Stewart Pierce (Mike Colter) and is on her way to having her own talk show. She is the peaches and cream of every woman’s fantasy, and no one would ever know she’s struggling with severe issues.  Even though Ryan is strong, successful with looks that could kill she – like many women – feels convinced to settle for a life that is beneath the quality of who she is, just to be an example of greatness for women.

But, with the power of a girl’s night out, a talk with sister-friends and a moment of self-enlightenment, she realizes there’s nothing wrong with knowing your worth. Women are too often the subjects of scrutiny when suggesting to leave a “good man/situation.” It’s a double-standard in society that even women impose on themselves, and it’s time to hang it up. A woman’s happiness needs to be the most rewarding and deserving status of health.

You’re A Woman without A Ring and Kids? That’s Cool Too.

Women are women, but humans first. The sole purpose and gain of a woman’s existence isn’t to procreate and be married. As stated before, women think, feel, grow, change and sometimes decide marriage with children just isn’t their thing – and that’s okay. Here we enter “Dina” played by the new face of comedy, Tiffany Haddish. Dina is fun, sassy, sexually liberated, man-less and childfree. She may have some small kinks to work out in her professional life but overall she’s content with the woman she is and she crosses whatever hurdle life throws her way.

There’s a stigma that suggests women at a certain age should be married with children, or else something is wrong. It’s an ideology that still associates women with being the nurturers and caretakers of the home. These principals are exploited through media, religion and other facets of human activity. However, some greats like Oprah Winfrey and Shonda Rhimes have made it point to share that their work supersedes the desire to have a traditional family. Dina teaches us that you don’t have to be married with children to be “normal” or accepted by society.

Stop Comparing Yourself To Other Women.

Unfortunately, we live in an extremely narcissistic era where the “selfie” is often “to-do” on our everyday check-list. We live in an era where “likes” and “followers” are the determining factor of person’s popularity and relevance. This makes it difficult to avoid constant judgment from others as well as yourself. While it may be a challenge it’s not impossible to separate yourself from the world and its vanity. Here we have Queen Latifah’s character, Sasha Franklin. Sasha is an amazing and credible journalist who turned to writing tabloids to make a couple extra bucks. Sasha, who is too proud to let her girls know she doesn’t have it all, portrays a life of having sort of wealth in order to hide the shame she feels from her financial hardship.

Like most women, we feel the need to be one step ahead of our competition. But in reality, what competition exists? You may see people vacationing, working on their summer bods or enjoying a shopping spree because social media only allows you to see the image that person displays. No one knows what life is like for any person outside of their profile page. And even if their life is fruitful, that’s not your business. Most of your concerns should go towards your own endeavors and goals. Taking time away from your space to give energy to another creates self-doubt and criticism, which never existed before. Most of the issues all humans have in regards to anxiety or depression come from negative ideas we’ve conjured up in our minds. It’s not healthy; it’s pointless and adds nothing positive to our lives.

Liberate Yourself Sexually

Everyone does it. Your mother, father, sister, brother; as a matter of fact everyone you’ve met is its product. It’s sex. It’s natural and you should feel free enough to express every aspect of it. We meet Lisa Cooper (Jada Pinkett-Smith). Lisa is a fairly new divorced woman with children who is having trouble with embracing her sexual entity. Her friends combat her resistance by introducing her to men, prompting her to engage with fellas in social settings.

The lesson to take away from Lisa is to be confident in your sexuality, whatever it may be. Explore who you are as a woman and understand what your body does and doesn’t enjoy. Why? Well, why go through life without getting the best experiences you can possibly have? If you’re single, enjoy sex while being safe.

A double standard also resides in the realm of sex as it pertains to how women should be sexually – it’s neither fair nor normal. You shouldn’t, and naturally, can’t refrain from what comes natural. So liberate yourself. Enjoy sex safely and on your terms.

In Conclusion…

There are so many lessons to take from this film. Some may be harder to grasp, but what is life without challenges? Whether you’re married, a mother, focused on your career, single, looking for love or none of the above, live to your standard of free because that’s the ultimate key to your happiness.