You’re not allowed to feel jealous of your friends. It’s a word reserved for discussing an ex’s Hinge habit post-breakup, or nonchalantly tossed around the office when a coworker books a holiday. But being jealous of a friend… particularly a female friend? In a post-girl-boss world? Have you even heard of women supporting women?!
Even if experiencing jealousy towards your friends is taboo, it still happens. The term “I feel jealous of my friend” is more googled than any other “I feel jealous of…” statement. It’s evidently not rare, just suppressed. Why? Jealousy doesn’t get good press: it’s an ugly emotion, or in the words of Charli xcx: “Jealousy is just not a very sexy feeling, is it?” Jealousy is shamefully rooted in the murky depths of the inadequacies we feel about ourselves – be it our body, finances, popularity, or creativity – before morphing into the beast of endless comparison, stifled projection and ultimately, even more shame.
For this …