Despite what all the romcoms and Disney movies lead us to believe, being single as a woman is not just an unfortunate condition to be tolerated, it's something that you can actively enjoy! 

Research shows that by 2030, 45% of women are predicted to be single, and single women tend to be happier, healthier and live longer than married women. But even though most women nowadays are financially independent and we know that being single has a lot of benefits both to our physical and mental health, in our current society it's still seen as bad for a woman to be single, especially after a certain age. And it can be really hard to enjoy being single when a lot of people around you might consider this an unconventional lifestyle or even something radical. We're all socially conditioned to live in a heteronormative way centred around romantic relationships and marriage. 

And even though nowadays more and more women are starting to understand that it's better to be single than be in a bad relationship, a lot of people do get lonely when they're single and find it hard to build connection and meaningful routines in their lives, as well as feeling that they're getting excluded from social events if they don't have a plus one. 

But there are so many things you can do to make sure that you're really getting the most out of being single, and that's what we're talking about in this episode! 

We discuss everything from not caring too much about parents' expectations to how to enjoy your alone time, and share our advice for how to enjoy being single as a woman, including practical tips and mindset shifts that we think can make a huge difference!

If you enjoyed this episode, you'll also love our first episode "Pros of being single as women", which has been our most popular podcast episode so far!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this Book Club episode, we discuss The Wedding People, a popular novel by Alison Espach. 

We discussed what we liked about the novel, especially how it touches on important feminist themes such as how modern-day wedding culture is toxic, the dangers of centring your life around a man, and the way a lot of women make themselves small because they lack confidence. We also liked how the novel comments on how you're never too old to change yourself or try new things.

We also talked about some problematic aspects of the novel, such as that we would've preferred for Phoebe to find new meaning and purpose in her life that doesn't revolve around meeting a new man. We also touched on how the novel doesn't fully explore the theme of female friendship, and normalises a competitive rivalry between female characters.

We also mentioned who our favourite characters were, and read out our favourite quotes from the novel!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we discuss the importance of surrounding yourself with the right friends.  

A study at Harvard showed that your close friends determine your life outcomes such as your physical health, lifestyle choices, career prospects, financial situation, and happiness levels, even more so than your spouse, your parents, or your siblings. Our friends have a huge impact on our life, but how do we make sure we're surrounding ourselves with the right ones?

We discuss how we personally choose the right people to be friends with, how to avoid getting into unhealthy friendship dynamics with toxic friend groups who secretly hate each other, how to be friends with people of the opposite gender, why you shouldn't ever get jealous of your friends when they are successful, values you should look for in friends, and how to surround yourself with friends who are genuinely supportive.

We share a list of non-negotiables for what we look for in a friend, and touch on the importance of not expecting too much from our friends.

We also share advice on where and how you can meet the right friends, as well as tips for how to distance yourself or set boundaries if you ever find yourself surrounded by the wrong friends who aren't the right people for you.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we discuss how beauty standards universally affect women in every country all over the world, and how we can free ourselves.

Beauty standards are highly subjective, shaped by the cultural and historical context of each specific society. But no matter where you live, how old you are, what your background is, how powerful you are or how much money you have, no woman on the planet can escape beauty standards. 

Firstly, we discuss all the different types of beauty standards and expectations that are placed on women that men don't have to deal with, including all the crazy things that women around the world do in the pursuit of beauty, from plastic surgery and vagina whitening(!), to wearing make-up and removing pubic hair. 

We also talk about our own personal experiences and struggles with beauty standards, and touch on how these have differed so much based on the different countries we've lived in.

And finally, we share advice for how to unlearn toxic beauty standards and live your life in an authentic and healthy way.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we talk about why women should never invest in a boyfriend, or a man they’re dating.

What do we mean by investing in a man? We mean investing your time, energy and money into a man you are dating (and not yet married or engaged to), by doing things such as helping him build his career, helping him buy his house, supporting him financially, moving somewhere to suit his convenience, living together with him while splitting rent 50/50 and doing most of the housework, and everything in between. 

A lot of the time, women do these things for a man they're dating hoping it'll make him want to commit to them and give them marriage in return. But that's not how it works, and in this episode we unpack why not! 

We're definitely not advocating for women to be financially dependent on men, nor should they be gold diggers, but there's no need to act like a wife when you're still a girlfriend, and it's not a good idea for women to invest their time and their energy into a man in exchange for the possibility of potential commitment. 

We talk about the historical and cultural context for why this happens: our generation of women is the first generation ever in history who don't need to be financially dependent on men, but for centuries us women have been expected to find our own value and purpose in our male partner's success and achievement, and our societal norms and subconscious beliefs haven't kept up with these changes. And these societal norms will only change if we women change the way we behave, which we collectively have the power to do!

We discuss: all the ways that women should never invest in a man and why, how you CAN get a man to give you the commitment that you want, the risks of cohabiting with a man and why you shouldn't let a man "test out" living together with you before deciding whether he wants to marry you, when is the right time to move in together with a boyfriend, how to tell if you're investing too much, how to tell whether you're choosing to do something for your partner because you genuinely want to or are unhealthily sacrificing yourself and losing yourself in the relationship, how can you tell if a man you're dating is really serious about a long-term future together with you or not, and why the woman should never be the one who's progressing the relationship forward in any way.

We also share advice for how women who are in this situation can get out of it, and HOW you can get a man to give you the commitment that you want!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we discussed 10 things we wish we'd known when we were 21, summarising all the life lessons that we learnt from our 20s. 

We discussed everything from the importance of investing in your experiences and reading more books, to why you shouldn't compare yourself to others or feel pressure to meet social expectations. 

It's a fun conversation where we share lots of our personal stories and experiences!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

For our second film club episode, we discussed Black Doves, a Netflix Original TV series. It's set in London and centres on a strong female protagonist Helen Webb (played by Kiera Knightley) who leads a double life as an undercover spy. 

This six-episode series is an interesting mix of action-packed spy movie, thriller and murder mystery, with a good dose of self-deprecating British humour, and powerful female characters.

We discussed the elements of the show that we found progressive and gender-subversive: 

- the way the female characters are depicted is not misogynistic, nor are they objectified

- the completely platonic friendship between Helen and Sam: it's rare to see a male-female relationship that doesn't centre on the woman being the romantic love interest

- the show focuses on mature women rather than young and sexualised female characters

- the fact that Helen is a woman doesn't dictate how the plot unfolds

- all of the main players in the world of the TV show are women

- violent physical fights between women

- the conflict and rivalry between female characters doesn't involve them fighting over a man

- most of the deep emotions and tenderness actually comes from the male characters and their stories. 

We also discussed how British the show is: the setting, the characters, certain specific cultural contexts, and the self-deprecating humour!

We also touched on some things that we found a little problematic with the TV series: some logical gaps in the plot, the lack of diversity and equality in the casting of characters, and the real life story that the series' narrative was based on. 

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we interviewed Shannon Read, a female tattooist who specialises in tattooing women. 

Shannon shared her experiences working in a male-dominated tattoo industry, which lead her to create her own female-friendly tattoo studio, and told us about everything she’s learnt from her 10+ years of experience tattooing female clients. 

We discussed: women tend to underestimate themselves and their strength, women are conditioned to suppress their pain, lack of diversity in shapes and sizes of female bodies modelling tattoo designs, women feel sorry too much, women are overly self-critical, unrealistic beauty standards that put pressure on women, and the differences between tattooing men vs. women.

She also shares everything she’s learnt from her experiences tattooing female clients who are mothers - they’re often women who never get any time to do anything for themselves, and feel guilty whenever they do! And as a busy working mother herself, she shares her own advice on some things women can do to make sure they’re also looking after themselves, rather than always prioritising looking after everyone around them! 

Shannon also leaves us with an important message about how getting a tattoo can be something really empowering for a woman to do for herself, as a way to reclaim her own autonomy and power. 

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we talk about why wedding culture is toxic and misogynistic. 

We’re not against weddings or marriage, but the way that most wedding ceremonies are performed feels outdated and misogynistic, and we rarely think to question this.

We discussed: the father giving away the bride, pressure on the bride to meet certain beauty standards and look perfect for her wedding day, the extreme dieting that a lot of women do in preparation for their wedding, why should the bride wear a white dress?, how the bride often takes on the burden of doing the majority of the wedding planning, Bridezillas, the fact that a wedding day is still meant to be the most important day in a woman’s life even though we’ve moved on from a society where women are completely financially dependent on their husbands, and the misogynistic aspects of some religious wedding ceremonies.  

We also talk about cultural differences between weddings in different countries and share personal stories from weddings we’ve been to. We then discuss the phenomenon of how some Japanese women nowadays are marrying themselves, and the “non-marriage” ceremonies that women are performing in Korea. 

Finally, we discuss: what can we do about it? We share our thoughts on how we can all contribute to changing wedding culture and making it more inclusive, more diverse, less toxic, less misogynistic, and more equal and fair. We also share what our own respective dream weddings would be like!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)

In this episode, we discuss why women need to learn how to say no!

Despite cultural differences between different countries, it’s still especially difficult for women to say no - in any culture! We explore how women are socially conditioned to be people pleasers and put others’ needs above our own, and discuss personal experiences of situations where we’ve both personally struggled to say no.

We also discuss women not being able to say no in the workplace and the impact that it has on their careers, and how it’s interpreted differently when men say no vs. when women say no. 

We talk about the dangers of not being able to say no, or saying yes to the wrong things. Learning how to saying no is important for every area of our lives, because saying no to things that don’t serve you creates more time and energy for you to say yes to the right things that really matter.

We also share our advice for how to say no, including some case studies and examples of what we would say in different situations like social events and parties, along with some valuable tips and tricks for how you can become someone who easily says no!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow us and leave a review. And if you have any ideas or topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to send us an email—we’d love to hear from you!

Send your stories and inquiries: [email protected]
Follow us on Instagram: shesjustpodcast

Podcast Logo Artwork by Chami (@chami.jpg)

Intro Music: Picture Perfect Gurl by SPARKZ
(The first three episodes: Out Loud by Beat Mekanik (Free Music Archive | CC BY))
Outro Music: 2010 Pop by Akira Sora (Free Music Archive | CC BY)