Many studies show that strong female friendships are vital for women’s health, boosting happiness, reducing stress, and providing crucial emotional support.
With Galentine’s Day just around the corner, M&S has conducted a survey of 1,000 British women to find out what friendship means to them, and how the nation plans to celebrate on 13th February.
What is Galentine’s Day?
Originating from the TV show Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s Day is an annual celebration dedicated to female friendship. It’s standing on 13th February allows women to raise a glass to platonic love. In fact, almost a third (32%) of women admitted they put more effort into Galentine’s Day than Valentine’s Day.
How will Britons be celebrating this year?
The majority of women surveyed said their favourite way to spend Galentine’s Day was dining out with their friends (13%), a cosy night in (11.5%), and brunch or lunch (11.4%).
With UK searches for “galentines outfit” up 536%[1] in the past week alone, M&S have shared outfit inspirations, suited for each occasion:
The importance of female friendships
Communication is the pinnacle of every female friendship. 60% of women surveyed shared that they keep in touch with their close friends at least once a week, while over one in six (17%) connect every day.
For British women, female friendships are built on showing up for one another. Key forms of support include emotional support and active listening (52%), being present and reliable (50%), and laughter and distraction (47%).
Notably, 79% of women rate their female friendships as important, which only deepens with age as Gen X (aged 45-60) revealed female friendships are “very important” in the survey.
Women turn to their friends for a wide range of serious topics. The most common are “health concerns” (32%), “major life decisions” (27%), and “romantic relationship problems” (25%).
While relationship problems are a popular topic for almost two in five (39%) of Gen Z (aged 18-28), older generations are more likely to open up about their health (38% of women aged 45 and over).
In summary, female friendships are not a ‘nice-to-have’, but a fundamental pillar of well-being for British women. And new traditions such as Galentine’s Day are a fun way to celebrate these inner circles.
