View source for Enforced Competition (Internalised Misogyny)

Enforced Competition refers to the socially imposed rivalry among women under patriarchy, where female identity and social value are tethered to male validation, beauty standards, and sexual availability. This dynamic is a manifestation of internalised misogyny, whereby women unconsciously absorb and enact patriarchal values against themselves and other women. Enforced competition functions as a mechanism of social control, fragmenting female solidarity and contributing to widespread emotional isolation.

Within a patriarchal society, women are taught to perceive one another not as allies but as rivals. This rivalry while framed by media, institutions, and culture as “natural” or harmless is in fact a strategic mechanism of male supremacy. It diverts women’s attention away from systemic oppression and redirects it toward individualized self-optimization, body surveillance, and competition for male approval. This environment creates deep-seated loneliness among women, as genuine intimacy and trust become difficult to cultivate in a context of comparison, insecurity, and hierarchy. As a consequence, many women ultimately opt out of romantic and sexual relationships not out of asexuality or disinterest, but as an act of emotional self-preservation within a hostile social system.