Jaime King: Women can be strong together

Jaime King thinks women can be strong together “without competition between us”.

The 36-year-old actress and model is close friends with Taylor Swift and has asked her to be the godmother to her unborn baby. Jaime thinks it’s extremely important for women to support each other, and she explained her reasons in her first ever column for the American edition of Elle.

“The experiences I've learned by having very strong women around me—women like Lena Dunham, Taylor Swift, and Jessica Alba—is that there can be a group of strong, creative women without competition between us,” she said. “The thing that solidifies us is this idea that, no matter what, we will always support each other. People find that fascinating about our friendships, like it's some sort of odd thing. And it really shouldn't be.”

Jaime can speak from experience about what it’s like to be in competition with your own sex. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, the star felt like an outcast no matter what she did to try and fit in.

“I was pretty, and I looked a certain way, but I didn't have the money and I didn't have the address,” she recalled. “You had to be a cheerleader or a jock at the school that I went to, and I remember the feeling at that point, like, ‘Oh, okay. What do I do' Maybe if I change the way that I am, if I try to be more like my sister….’ My sister was very popular and she was accepted.”
Jaime started to do her hair and make-up like her sibling as well as stealing her clothes. But instead of replicating her sister’s success at school, it had the reverse effect.

“And then, the interesting thing is, it got worse. People said I was a poser, that I was trying to be something I wasn't. I didn't understand,” she continued. “If I'm not acceptable how I am and I'm not acceptable when I fit into what you look like, then how am I ever going to be acceptable to you'”