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Mean Girls Text Wrestling Essay

Kendall Fry posted Jul 8, 2024 12:05 AM

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Kendall Fry 

Professor Viggy 

ENG 101 WW1 

08 July 2024 

Text Wrestling Essay 

In her New York Times article “When Mean Girls Grow Up,” Hannah Seligson explains how social dynamics, developed during adolescence, still affect the lives of adult women in the workplace and beyond. Her main source for the topic was author Rosalind Wiseman. Wiseman penned the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence.” This book inspired the classic film, Mean Girls, starring a young Lindsey Lohan. The box office hit has recently been spun into a tv show depicting the same kinds of characters. Those characters being young schoolgirls, that split themselves into cliques of varying social hierarchies. The “Mean Girls,” at the top of the hierarchy, thrived in their adolescent environments through gossip and slanderous tactics used against other young girls not well versed in “catty” and passive aggressive communication.  

Though not morally sound for young children, the “Mean Girl” image led to the girls apart of said clique to be viewed as the top of the social hierarchy during their adolescent years. This went beyond the created movie script lines and characters in the movie Mean Girls. In her book, Wiseman gathered information from actual pre-teen and teenage girls. Her findings, mixed with her own experience growing up going to school in America, confirmed the idea that the Mean Girl was a powerful figure in school that garnered fear and respect from her contemporaries, despite behaving in manners that were simply not nice. The ideas and habits we build during our youth commonly spill over into adulthood. Thus, it is not a surprise to know that the Mean Girls of middle and high school did not die out in those eras. Even now Ms. Wiseman commonly gets emails from followers such as this: “You are never going to believe this: My work is like middle school.” 

In her article Hannah furthers the idea that the Mean Girl and the atmosphere she creates is alive and well today in the adult world. Though Ms. Wiseman’s book was written over two decades ago, to this day she is still sought after as a consultant to help corporations deal with toxic work environments involving passive aggressiveness and outright bullying amongst female employees. Wiseman attributes passive aggressive tendencies to societal power dynamics as stated below: 

“The root of many of the challenges women have at work and relationally with  each other comes from women not having traditional paths to power,” she said.  “When you are restricted from those powers, you assert power in more passive-  aggressive ways.”  

The concrete facts surrounding what constitutes a mean girl, I agree with. Young girls, and children in general, can sometimes be rude to one another. This article focuses on a particular demographic of children when referring to the Mean Girl, who garnered the most attention from Ms. Wisemans book. That demographic being middle-upper class girls of European descent, normally raised in suburban settings. Wiseman asserts that these girls grow into women that assert themselves in the workplace and beyond in “passive-aggressive” manners due to paths of power not being as readily available.  

I don’t think being passive aggressive in response to obstacles to traditional paths to power is ok. I think women that originate from the Mean Girl background are just as capable of dealing with societal pressures as anyone. I support and believe in feminism, and I love that many of the obstacles to success for women in this country have been broken away. However, I don't think that an obstacle to success, which many in the world face, warrants passive aggressive and outright rude behavior because things aren't as equal as they should be. As a black man who's dealt with very concrete and obvious discrimination on many levels, I do not think it is ok for me to be passive aggressive, rude, slanderous, or negative to my coworkers and peers because of obstacles to power. In fact, if I were to behave in such a way, I wouldn't be surprised to see what opportunities I have for advancement disappear.  

A topic Wiseman did not touch on in her original book was the ever-important factors of race and cultural origins and the roles they play in adolescent years. Being raised in Chicago, I grew up around a plethora of races and cultures. What I noticed in my upbringing was to be popular meant to be funny, well dressed, good at sports, or a combo of the traits. To be passive aggressive, a gossiper and negative, in the manner of the Mean Girl, brought more problems than one would want in school. I will say that popular kids had more room to be mean and get away with it. However, having a reputation as a Mean Girl or boy led to more problems than anything.  

I grew up in a lower-class family and went to school with lower class students. I know now that America is really good at making the difference in classes withing the country obvious. Media depicts the lifestyles of those in the upper and middle classes as the “American Dream.” A dream sought after by people in our country and around the world.  It is not hard to realize when you grow up in a low-income neighborhood, that that American Dream in not your reality.  Growing up with an awareness of your family’s lower socioeconomic status, as compared to that of the status of the youth Wiseman used for her book, can lead to a humbler outlook on life. That outlook, also encouraged by rearing adults, who mostly likely had similar upbringings, inspired a sense of community and inclusiveness over that of cliquishness and exclusiveness. When there is a lack of resources and opportunities, a group can go further by combining forces than behaving in ways that increase friction and disunion. The lower classes tend to naturally understand this idea better, thus encouraging unity.  

The Mean Girl ideology goes beyond that of young school girls just being themselves. Class and privilege played large roles in how youth develop in American suburbia, the origin of the Mean Girl. Mean Girls was a movie that both shed a spotlight on the reality of how some young girls can become catty in their youth and is a depiction of how pretentiousness and superiority complexes can arise in youth if left unchecked.  

Charlotte E. Jacobs, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was quoted in Seligson’s article as having argued that, “having the social latitude to be catty and back-stabbing can be a reflection of privilege.” Jacobs went on to say that “The ‘mean girl’ archetype is a product of middle- to upper-class white girls.” From the depiction on film Mean Girl, inspired by actual girls Wiseman interviewed, I would have to agree with Jacobs’ sentiment. This points to the fact that the cattiness and passive-aggressiveness that has found its way from adolescent educational institutions to the adult world, needs to be looked at from an appropriate lens to be properly handled. That lens being one that sees childhood experiences, as well as race, class and culture as factors that need to be acknowledged to help with the issues at play.  

I love Wiseman’s practical approach to dealing with cattiness and some women being mean spirited in the workplace today. As Seligson points out in her article, Wiseman had conferences where she encourages women to deal with issues head on. In a situation where a woman may have felt disrespected by her coworker, instead of storming off, upset and ready to tell another coworker about the occurrence, Wiseman suggested to women del with the problem right at the time it occurs. At a conference, after a woman experienced what she considered as a slight, Wiseman encouraged them to say something to this effect, “the way you are talking to me doesn’t come across as if you really want to know my answer. Is that accurate?” This practical approach can build habits that encourage a sense of unity and positivity, something that would be greatly beneficial in an environment where the Mean Girl attitude may be at play. 

The end of the article sums up the perception of the Mean Girl both when the movie came out and today as, “very smart and cunning.” The article points out that “People respect her,” referring to the Mean Girl. While the previous statement may be true to some, I think the idea that being catty, rude and passive aggressive in the workplace and beyond serves no valuable purpose, regardless of gender, race, class, or culture. I feel even more strongly about this for any youth displaying Mean Girl characteristics. Mean Girls is a classic film, as is Wiseman’s depiction of how privilege can lead to arrogance and insensitivity in children as early as elementary school. Seligson states that the Mean Girl archetype “remains a powerful” and “charismatic cultural icon.” I think there needs to be a change in this perception. Being rude and catty serves no good purpose anywhere in life. I think Wiseman recognizes and supports this. Thats obvious as 20 years after publishing the book that started it all, she is still helping to handle the Mean Girls of the world. 

Text Wrestling Peer Editing

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Mean Girls Text Wrestling Essay

Kendall Fry posted Jul 8, 2024 12:05 AM

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Kendall Fry 

Professor Viggy 

ENG 101 WW1 

08 July 2024 

Text Wrestling Essay 

In her New York Times article “When Mean Girls Grow Up,” Hannah Seligson explains how social dynamics, developed during adolescence, still affect the lives of adult women in the workplace and beyond. Her main source for the topic was author Rosalind Wiseman. Wiseman penned the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence.” This book inspired the classic film, Mean Girls, starring a young Lindsey Lohan. The box office hit has recently been spun into a tv show depicting the same kinds of characters. Those characters being young schoolgirls, that split themselves into cliques of varying social hierarchies. The “Mean Girls,” at the top of the hierarchy, thrived in their adolescent environments through gossip and slanderous tactics used against other young girls not well versed in “catty” and passive aggressive communication.  

Though not morally sound for young children, the “Mean Girl” image led to the girls apart of said clique to be viewed as the top of the social hierarchy during their adolescent years. This went beyond the created movie script lines and characters in the movie Mean Girls. In her book, Wiseman gathered information from actual pre-teen and teenage girls. Her findings, mixed with her own experience growing up going to school in America, confirmed the idea that the Mean Girl was a powerful figure in school that garnered fear and respect from her contemporaries, despite behaving in manners that were simply not nice. The ideas and habits we build during our youth commonly spill over into adulthood. Thus, it is not a surprise to know that the Mean Girls of middle and high school did not die out in those eras. Even now Ms. Wiseman commonly gets emails from followers such as this: “You are never going to believe this: My work is like middle school.” 

In her article Hannah furthers the idea that the Mean Girl and the atmosphere she creates is alive and well today in the adult world. Though Ms. Wiseman’s book was written over two decades ago, to this day she is still sought after as a consultant to help corporations deal with toxic work environments involving passive aggressiveness and outright bullying amongst female employees. Wiseman attributes passive aggressive tendencies to societal power dynamics as stated below: 

“The root of many of the challenges women have at work and relationally with  each other comes from women not having traditional paths to power,” she said.  “When you are restricted from those powers, you assert power in more passive-  aggressive ways.”  

The concrete facts surrounding what constitutes a mean girl, I agree with. Young girls, and children in general, can sometimes be rude to one another. This article focuses on a particular demographic of children when referring to the Mean Girl, who garnered the most attention from Ms. Wisemans book. That demographic being middle-upper class girls of European descent, normally raised in suburban settings. Wiseman asserts that these girls grow into women that assert themselves in the workplace and beyond in “passive-aggressive” manners due to paths of power not being as readily available.  

I don’t think being passive aggressive in response to obstacles to traditional paths to power is ok. I think women that originate from the Mean Girl background are just as capable of dealing with societal pressures as anyone. I support and believe in feminism, and I love that many of the obstacles to success for women in this country have been broken away. However, I don't think that an obstacle to success, which many in the world face, warrants passive aggressive and outright rude behavior because things aren't as equal as they should be. As a black man who's dealt with very concrete and obvious discrimination on many levels, I do not think it is ok for me to be passive aggressive, rude, slanderous, or negative to my coworkers and peers because of obstacles to power. In fact, if I were to behave in such a way, I wouldn't be surprised to see what opportunities I have for advancement disappear.  

A topic Wiseman did not touch on in her original book was the ever-important factors of race and cultural origins and the roles they play in adolescent years. Being raised in Chicago, I grew up around a plethora of races and cultures. What I noticed in my upbringing was to be popular meant to be funny, well dressed, good at sports, or a combo of the traits. To be passive aggressive, a gossiper and negative, in the manner of the Mean Girl, brought more problems than one would want in school. I will say that popular kids had more room to be mean and get away with it. However, having a reputation as a Mean Girl or boy led to more problems than anything.  

I grew up in a lower-class family and went to school with lower class students. I know now that America is really good at making the difference in classes withing the country obvious. Media depicts the lifestyles of those in the upper and middle classes as the “American Dream.” A dream sought after by people in our country and around the world.  It is not hard to realize when you grow up in a low-income neighborhood, that that American Dream in not your reality.  Growing up with an awareness of your family’s lower socioeconomic status, as compared to that of the status of the youth Wiseman used for her book, can lead to a humbler outlook on life. That outlook, also encouraged by rearing adults, who mostly likely had similar upbringings, inspired a sense of community and inclusiveness over that of cliquishness and exclusiveness. When there is a lack of resources and opportunities, a group can go further by combining forces than behaving in ways that increase friction and disunion. The lower classes tend to naturally understand this idea better, thus encouraging unity.  

The Mean Girl ideology goes beyond that of young school girls just being themselves. Class and privilege played large roles in how youth develop in American suburbia, the origin of the Mean Girl. Mean Girls was a movie that both shed a spotlight on the reality of how some young girls can become catty in their youth and is a depiction of how pretentiousness and superiority complexes can arise in youth if left unchecked.  

Charlotte E. Jacobs, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was quoted in Seligson’s article as having argued that, “having the social latitude to be catty and back-stabbing can be a reflection of privilege.” Jacobs went on to say that “The ‘mean girl’ archetype is a product of middle- to upper-class white girls.” From the depiction on film Mean Girl, inspired by actual girls Wiseman interviewed, I would have to agree with Jacobs’ sentiment. This points to the fact that the cattiness and passive-aggressiveness that has found its way from adolescent educational institutions to the adult world, needs to be looked at from an appropriate lens to be properly handled. That lens being one that sees childhood experiences, as well as race, class and culture as factors that need to be acknowledged to help with the issues at play.  

I love Wiseman’s practical approach to dealing with cattiness and some women being mean spirited in the workplace today. As Seligson points out in her article, Wiseman had conferences where she encourages women to deal with issues head on. In a situation where a woman may have felt disrespected by her coworker, instead of storming off, upset and ready to tell another coworker about the occurrence, Wiseman suggested to women del with the problem right at the time it occurs. At a conference, after a woman experienced what she considered as a slight, Wiseman encouraged them to say something to this effect, “the way you are talking to me doesn’t come across as if you really want to know my answer. Is that accurate?” This practical approach can build habits that encourage a sense of unity and positivity, something that would be greatly beneficial in an environment where the Mean Girl attitude may be at play. 

The end of the article sums up the perception of the Mean Girl both when the movie came out and today as, “very smart and cunning.” The article points out that “People respect her,” referring to the Mean Girl. While the previous statement may be true to some, I think the idea that being catty, rude and passive aggressive in the workplace and beyond serves no valuable purpose, regardless of gender, race, class, or culture. I feel even more strongly about this for any youth displaying Mean Girl characteristics. Mean Girls is a classic film, as is Wiseman’s depiction of how privilege can lead to arrogance and insensitivity in children as early as elementary school. Seligson states that the Mean Girl archetype “remains a powerful” and “charismatic cultural icon.” I think there needs to be a change in this perception. Being rude and catty serves no good purpose anywhere in life. I think Wiseman recognizes and supports this. Thats obvious as 20 years after publishing the book that started it all, she is still helping to handle the Mean Girls of the world.