When women stand together regimes can be shifted, antiquated cultures broken down, and the status quo exploded. This is a story about the rise and potential demise of the ‘girls club’. Unpacking what the ‘girls club’ is, and means, in today’s society. Is there one? Does it work effectively to enable women to succeed together?

Laura Clelland, Business Owner and Filmmaker, believes that there is a ‘girls club’. Or, even better, there is no need, as everyone already supports each other. Is Laura overlooking that this notion may not apply to everyone? Setting out to explore this, Laura questions if the current climate of striving for gender parity has changed the way women help each other, or has it simply propelled the notion that women don’t need a club, they are already united?

With this positive notion in hand, Laura explores the lives of two successful women in different fields. Did they have to compete with other women to get to the top, and have they stepped on any women along the way. Do these women believe the ‘girls club’ exists and how has this helped or hindered them? 

Putting a spotlight on their lives, who has mentored and supported them, and how they have supported others. We visit the notion that women do help other women, and want to see other women rise, but is this sometimes at the expense of their own success?

However, through this exploration it becomes apparent that another reality exists. The ‘girls club’ is not as strong as hoped for. Wanted. Expected. That another perpetuated paradigm subliminally exists whereby women tear each other down, consciously and/or subconsciously. With the ultimate downfall encompassed by the notion that if ‘she succeeds, I fail’. Targeting and pulling down other women to enable limitation of their success rather than building up to succeed together.

Australian society is on the precipice of a momentous time whereby women should unite to propel parity forward. Having explored the notion of the ‘girls club’, Laura discovers that there is support for, but not from, all women with a darker reality becoming apparent. If we don’t acknowledge this, we potentially do ourselves a disservice. However, through continuing the conversation we can enable positive change and ultimately succeed together.