Teenage Girls. A Seemingly rich subject matter on it's own. Parents don't understand them, they can never understand each other and god help them if they at some point need to understand themselves. But since the release of the movie "Mean Girls", the underlying evil that is embedded in every female brain has been exposed and explored so much so that i found myself inspired to discover just how common these situations of utter chaos and anarchy within 'Girl World' really are. The film gave us all a one way ticket to this world of cattiness cliques and 'can-you-believe-she-said..', this place was like a secret society, a taboo subject, girls were kind and gentle and played nice. WRONG. Hell, i was unaware of the ways of Girl World and it was my natural habitat for 18 years. Surely this was a disservice to my adolescent self, and now, being all the wiser, i feel that i was lucky to have come out alive at all since i was living without this information at my disposal, but who am i to deny anyone else of it.
Trying to decipher the intricate workings of the mind of a young woman trying to claw her way to the top of the social ladder, or better yet a girl who is desperately trying not to get trampled on during the struggle is definitely a worrying concept. Of course, there's much more to it than popularity and social status, but lets not get carried away just yet.
Explaining the politics (yes it's a political system girls work within, scary no?) of Girl World to an 'outsider can make you appear petty and superficial. Some cases are, of course, more extreme than others and the behavior will vary but even so , this has become the common stamping ground for the average teenage girl with it's multiple degrees of underlying rules, concerns, conflicts, feelings and beliefs connected with the population of Girl World.
Kids are cruel, it's been said thousands of times, but its true, and it doesn't end with calling names, pulling hair or a whack in the face, in fact i'm sure anyone who has been exposed to the cruelty of girl politics would agree with me when i say that, a physical attack would almost be a breath of fresh air when you're living in Girl World. See, the worst damage done to most teenage girls today is much more brutal- the attack that no one sees but you. Subtle bullying; the kind that plays tricks with one's mind. The kind of bullying that makes you question, not only yourself, but also whether it is even happening at all. It's happened to every girl in high school at some point and my aim is to shine a light on this phenomenon and the seriousness of the situation, most people don't see - the bad side of the "good girls".
Something that many people don't realise is that the characteristics found in the Clique, can be found in every group of girls, any group, any size, anywhere - are all guilty of some of the things that cause concern in Girl World.
A world full of paranoia, vulnerability, conformity, pressure, manipulation - and this is just her friends!
To fully understand and appreciate how a girl thinks you have to understand the world in which she lives.
The leaders are more like dictators, they are ruthless, and the environment where the mindset begins and breeds is one of madness.
Everywhere you turn is a threat; you have to keep your enemies close to keep them on a short tether in case they start to creep up the social ladder before you.
There are specific standards you must live up to, laws to abide and once you become consumed by Girl World, you make the biggest sacrifice of all - yourself.
In Girl World there are so many rules to follow, but the strange thing is that no one actually knows what those rules are, until someone breaks them, and then suddenly everyone becomes quite absolute about what is or is not acceptable.
Most of all, everyone, especially girls, wants to fit in, to belong, to be included. Studies have shown that girls in particular, depend mostly on the relationships with their peers during adolescence more than they depend on the relationships with their parents or siblings. Girls are twice as likely to consider suicide if they have few friends or feel isolated.
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