This post was updated Jan. 20 at 10:14 p.m.

Elphaba, the protagonist of “Wicked,” stood in the center of the Ozdust Ballroom alone. Hordes of people gathered around her, laughing at her green skin and ridiculing her strange dance.

But she didn’t receive help from whom you might expect. It wasn’t her sister or a love interest. Glinda, who would become her best friend, stood with Elphaba. They danced and saw the unparalleled power that emerges when women support women.

For centuries, society has cast a negative light on friendships between women. From the loaded connotations of words like “gossip” to the vilifying of women in positions of power, female friendships have often been misunderstood and diminished.

However, movies like “Barbie” and “Wicked” highlight the beauty, complexity and joy that can emerge from these connections. It’s refreshing to see those who identify as women support one another with kindness and authenticity.

These portrayals remind UCLA students of the value of prioritizing platonic relationships between women that are often overlooked. College experiences are enhanced by engaging in the emotional depth and shared understanding that female friendships can bring.

Wren Eber and Maya Varma, two doctoral students in art history, said they shared a bond rooted in their shared experiences as women.

“We can talk about similar experiences that we’ve had both in our field, in dating and socially because we’re both women,” Eber said.

There’s something empowering about connecting over shared backgrounds and defining life moments. Eber and Varma reflected this sentiment, demonstrating how their shared femininity strengthened their friendship.

This example illustrates how strong and empowering networks are created through female friendships. Female students should keep this in mind when navigating the UCLA social scene.

This idea is backed by a 2022 study conducted by the Center for Community Research at DePaul University, finding that strong female friendships directly correlated to higher levels of optimism and empowerment for women recovering from substance abuse disorders.

Positive portrayals of women in the media, and in film especially, have the power to transform how we view female relationships as a society. “Wicked” strongly demonstrates this in its multifaceted depiction of women on the screen and the friendships they share.

“When I saw it (“Wicked”) when I was younger, it definitely helped me as a person who identified more with the Glindas of the world in terms of being very girly,” Varma said. “It was nice to be like, ‘Oh, I can be that way and still have strong friendships with women who care about different things than I do and that we can still connect over very big, powerful things like social change.’”

Still, not all media depictions of female friendships are positive. Films like “Mean Girls” perpetuate stereotypes of competition and cruelty among women, portraying these relationships as rife with backstabbing and distrust.

Akila Senthilkumar, a first-year political science student, and Ariel Gao, a first-year biochemistry student, acknowledged the difficulty that comes with forming female friendships based on public perception.

“I’ve met a bunch of people who have believed and really played into the stereotypes of women being catty and antagonistic towards each other, and that prevented them from forming strong female bonds,” Senthilkumar said. “No matter who you are, you can always support another woman without seeing them as a threat to your own femininity, your womanhood or your strength as a person.”

Despite these pitfalls, the benefits of female friendships far outweigh the challenges, and in some cases can even be life saving.

A review article written by researchers at UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences found that friendships between women benefit their health and well-being. This is due to the fact that women seek out support more often, and in turn are more sensitive and better at providing help when their friends are in need.

Students entering UCLA may fear the stereotypes surrounding female friendship, but these relationships now have the potential to become more meaningful than history has previously shown.

Eber, Varma, Senthilkumar and Gao exemplify the value of longtime friends who truly value each other. They love each other’s humor, listening skills, intelligence and kindness. Having a friend with shared experiences and openness is powerful, and it is about time that today’s media begins to realize that.

Glinda and Elphaba stood united in the face of adversity, and in a society that has continuously torn women down. They showed viewers the unbreakable bond that emerges when women are friends.

Let’s turn UCLA into a safe haven for women and spend 2025 continuing to empower one another.