Ever breathed a sigh of relief when your ex's new girlfriend turns out to be fatter than you? Bitched about another woman as soon as she's left the room? Sworn you'll never turn into your mother? Spotted a woman surrounded by men at a party and thought "slut"? Thought ANYTHING SHE CAN DO I CAN DO BETTER? Chances are, if you're a woman who engages in society (read, leaves the house), you're competitive - not that you'll admit it. Female competition is a taboo topic. It's covert, rarely spoken about in public, but it exists - between mothers and daughters, sisters, best friends, work mates, women-in-laws and more.

From the note exchanges and silent treatment of the other girls in the schoolyard, the Bride Monster and her bridesmaids, mothers groups and boardrooms, Rachael Oakes-Ash explores the manifestation of competition between females in the western world and why it keeps women from realising their full potential. Rachael dares to reveal her own stories of female competition and convinced prominent international women to do the same.

Sharing their thoughts on this taboo topic are Jessica Adams, Maggie Alderson, Bunty Avieson, Julie Burchill, Polly Young Eisendrath, Nancy Friday, Deborah Lee Furness, Miss Australia Nicole Gazal, Nikki Gemmell, Libbi Gorr, Kathryn Greiner, Lulu Guinness, Cynthia Heimel, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Fiona Horne, Margaret Jackson, Amy Jenkins, Lisa Jewell, Kathy Lette, Sara MacDonald, Wendy McCarthy, Tara Moss, Elizabeth Proust, Anita Roddick, Terry Schwarmberg, Liz Smith, Ann Sherry, Deb Thomas, Emma Tom, Polly Toynbee, Natasha Stott Despoja, Amanda Vanstone, Sandra Yates….and more!

Published by Random House Australia, ASCD is available in all good bookstores

“Oakes-Ash is spot-on about schools and how the media targets girls, very good on office politics and devastating on births and marriages and the no-win games mothers are forced into. She has a satirist's eye for detail and nails it down with sugar-coated research. She's aiming for a wide readership and deserves to get one because the book is funny, if breathless, and the issue is critical. It is nothing if not frank and fearless"
The Weekend Australian

A percentage of royalties from this book will be donated to the International Women's Development Agency (an Australian based charity).