I'll always prefer to play with women and hang out with women

The words of Courtney Love, “I’ll always prefer to play with women and hang out with women, and I’ll always be a feminist,” are the fiery vow of one who has walked through the storms of art, fame, and scorn, yet still holds her allegiance to her sisters. In them lies a declaration of loyalty: to seek strength, companionship, and creativity among women, rather than surrendering to the traditions that exalt men as the natural center of every stage. It is the cry of solidarity, born of both defiance and love.

The origin of such conviction is carved from centuries of struggle where women were set against each other by custom, competition, and scarcity. In music, in art, in politics, women were often made to believe there was room for only one of them at the table. To choose instead to play with women, to create and dwell among them in kinship, is to reject this false scarcity and to embrace abundance—the truth that when women unite, they multiply one another’s power.

Consider the story of the suffragettes, who banded together across nations at the dawn of the twentieth century. Though mocked, beaten, and imprisoned, they chose to “hang out” with one another in meetings, marches, and jails, drawing from that shared spirit the courage to face empires. Alone, each woman was vulnerable; together, they were unstoppable. Their victories gave proof to the wisdom Love voices: that feminism thrives not in isolation, but in communion.

Love’s words also shine with the essence of feminism—a belief not only in the equality of women, but in their right to joy, companionship, and power together. To “prefer” the company of women is not exclusion, but affirmation: a recognition that women’s voices, laughter, and art are enough in themselves, complete and radiant without validation from men. This is a philosophy of strength, declaring that the bonds of sisterhood are not secondary, but sacred.

The lesson is clear and timeless: to be a feminist is to honor the power of women in every space, from the stage to the street, from the hearth to the halls of power. To stand with them is to amplify their voices, to resist the forces that seek to divide, and to proclaim that women’s presence is not an exception to greatness, but its equal and rightful form.

Let future generations remember: the strength of women lies not only in what they achieve individually, but in what they choose to build together. And when they play together, when they stand together, when they live in solidarity, the world is reshaped. For the power of feminism is not a whisper, but a chorus, rising ever louder until justice and joy are shared by all.