Being a Young Woman Feels Like Being HUNTED
back from the borderline
mollie adler
4.8 • 602 Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Looking at a photo of your younger self is rarely the nostalgic trip it’s supposed to be. Most of the time, it’s a painful gut punch.
We’re taught to see those years as our prime, yet for many women, that time actually feels like being a target. Society treats a young woman’s presence as a public resource. You walk through the world being hunted by an uninvited hunger that has nothing to do with who you are.
Men of all ages direct a devouring kind of attention toward you. If you grew up feeling invisible or ignored at home, that sudden focus feels addictive. It mimics the sensation of being seen while your life is used to fill someone else’s emptiness.
The cruelest part of this cycle is how older women often join in. They’ve been convinced their own value has an expiration date, so they see every younger woman as a reminder of their own mythical deadline. This creates an invisible process where women often spend their time tearing each other down instead of the system that discards them.
The shadow of the patriarchy traps both men and women in predatory roles. These themes feel most visceral for women, but the material is for everyone. Healing this cultural wound requires attention from both sides, acknowledging the shadow in each gender polarity without demonizing anyone.
The ancient story of the goddess Sekhmet provides a map for moving from being the target to being the protector. Leaving the phase of the hunted maiden behind brings a complicated mix of grief and relief. You were born for so much more than to be a resource for others to draw from.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If this podcast stirs something up in your psyche, Moods is where you take it next. |
| 0:05.1 | Moods is the private pre-social ritual technology that my team and I built for your inner world. |
| 0:10.2 | It's not therapy or social media, but a place to work through what's coming up within you |
| 0:15.6 | and then get back into your real life. |
| 0:18.0 | Start your seven-day free trial today at moods. World and use the code |
| 0:22.8 | founders, F-O-U-N-D-R-S at checkout to lock in early pricing. That's moods.comodd-world code founders. |
| 0:36.4 | A couple of days ago, something happened to me that inspired this very episode. |
| 0:44.6 | I found myself, you know, pulled back by the way back machine where you're getting a flash of an old photo on your phone against your will. |
| 0:56.8 | And it was a picture of me when I was around 20 to 23. And I was just, you know, reflecting, thinking, thinking about things |
| 1:07.5 | that had changed, things that haven't changed, |
| 1:18.0 | and how differently I feel about so many things since I was that age. |
| 1:21.1 | But I was just caught on my appearance, |
| 1:28.5 | and I was reflecting on how our culture calls this time a woman's prime. |
| 1:36.4 | We are taught from a very young age and throughout our lives to believe that these years are the peak of our value. |
| 1:41.2 | People even use the image of a ripe peach to describe it. |
| 1:48.6 | It implies something at the absolute height of its sweetness, ready to be enjoyed and devoured. |
| 1:54.4 | But looking back at that girl now, that version of myself, I see something a lot darker. |
| 1:59.9 | And it's a version of myself that was being treated as a public resource. |
| 2:02.7 | Because when you're that ripe peach, |
| 2:07.5 | the world acts like it owns you and wants to devour you. |
| 2:10.2 | Everyone feels like they have a right to look at you and judge you and consume your very presence |
| 2:13.7 | as if you exist solely for them. |
... |
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