Bad Friend: How Women Revolutionized Modern Friendship

Bad Friend: How Women Revolutionized Modern Friendship by Tiffany Watt Smith

Bad Friend: How Women Revolutionized Modern Friendship is a bold, intelligent blend of memoir, cultural history, and social commentary that redefines how we understand female friendship in the modern age.

From #GirlBoss slogans to on-screen soulmates, today’s culture celebrates female friendship as sacred and unbreakable. But the real story is more complicated. Cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith draws on personal experience and centuries of history to examine the truth: female friendships can be joyful, intense, supportive—but also messy, painful, and fraught with contradictions.

Watt Smith explores everything from the trauma of friend breakups to the unspoken rules, power dynamics, and myths that shape women’s relationships. She dissects age-old tropes—the backstabbing bestie, the emotional caretaker, the jealous rival—and asks why these cultural scripts continue to define how women see themselves and each other.

Through witty storytelling and sharp analysis, Bad Friend challenges the impossible standards women face in their friendships and offers a new vision—one that makes space for imperfection, complexity, and growth.

This is a must-read for fans of feminist nonfiction, relationship psychology, and anyone who has ever wondered: Why is being a good friend so hard sometimes?