The topic today is mean girls, specifically mean girls in literature (and as an ancillary, in pop culture). From Nellie Olson to Cordelia Chase to a couple of YA novels that came across my radar lately (The Complete History of Why I Hate Her by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook) it seems that for every faithful friend and all-round good girl there is some darn near demonically possessed mean girl out there determined to take her down.

The fact that demons never have anything to do with these scenarios is perhaps their most terrifying element.

What I had for the panel this go-round was a bit of a chicken and egg question, as in "did literature create the myth of mean girls or have the reality of mean girls created accompanying literature?" I channeled Heathers a bit while pondering this one as it remains the ultimate mean girls movie in some respects - and certainly the most disturbing. (Fun fact: apparently Heather Graham was supposed to play one of the Heathers but her mother wouldn't let her because the plot was too dark.)

I am still torn on my own response to the question, and not certain just what the answer should be. I know that I receive a ton of teen books and a I know a lot of them are about girls being mean to other girls. But I also remember my own tough moments in junior high and high school (which frankly paled in comparison to the office stabbing to come later) and I know how awful it felt back then to be the recipient of such meanness. Maybe it's not so bad in the grand scheme of things, but when you're in the middle of it, such cruelty can be downright devastating. It's something to think about, that's for sure. (ETA: I must credit Little Willow booklists for many of the titles pictured here - she is so on top of YA publishing, it is amazing!)

So, the questions: Does teen literature exaggerate the mean girl phenomena too much? If aliens landed on earth and read teen lit (oh my) would they expect to find mini Cordelias wreaking havoc on every high school across America? Are they so prevalent because it just easier to write about mean girls then nice ones? Is teen lit reflecting what is real in this instance or propagating an unfair female stereotype?

Beth Kephart: "I've had my share of brush ups with the world's mean girls—their whispers in the ears of others; their fingers pointed at me; their thievery of boys I loved (though what boy is ever an innocent in such a game?); the loud howl of a long ridicule; the laughter that was anything but funny; the stray ugly comment about a book (my favorite anonymous Amazon comment ever accused me of being something like a billion years old; I think that was mean). I can and do (I admit this!) watch a late-night rerun of The Housewives of New York City or Orange County with a tad too much eager fascination (Really? Women talk like that and men take it? Women scheme like that and survive not just the world but themselves?). And I introduced, as a minor character in my first YA novel, Undercover, a mean beauty named Lila; I introduced her because the book is autobiographical, and because I have found myself ruthlessly tangled up with the likes of such a one.

But I have never seen the world as lopsidedly mean; such girls are rare, in my experience, wounded in some deep fashion, and, in the end, in need of compassion. (I’m still trying to locate my bit of compassion for my personal Lila. Give me time. Please. Give me time.) That there are so many books placing mean girls at their centers says more about the perceived need for a certain kind of novelistic conflict, in my estimation, than about the actual distribution of female types. Mean girls versus good girls is black versus white. It’s anti-heroine versus heroine. It’s a game, and someone will win. Maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s my age, but I grow increasingly interested, as I read and write, in the shades of gray, and what they teach us."

Lorie Ann Grover: "I'm not a sociologist, but I've read Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman and Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons. I believe the nonfiction conclusions that girls leverage power in a very different way than boys. Rather than plain facts and fists, girls use words and withhold them to manipulate.

I do remember certain mean girls throughout my school experience, and I've witnessed them in my teen daughters' as well. Anti-bully programs are popular in the public school system in our area. I'm assuming both sexes are addressed.

Maybe the subject is a fad right now, Colleen. And maybe we are looking more at the mean girl herself, rather than the victim who used to concern us most. Stephen King's Carrie flashes to mind. Is this new perspective giving the subject a fresh breath in teen lit? There's a fuller story of the mean girl herself, and there's even the exploration of a placid character turning into one: Tina Fey's Mean Girls.

Those are my thoughts. I'm not overly worried or concerned. The antagonist wears so many masks. Right now, she just happens to have a very nice complexion."

Zetta Elliott: "I have to admit that I haven’t read any “mean girl” teen lit, but I think there’s definite value in portraying girls as fully human—and that means showing the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think we’ve all encountered spiteful or malicious women throughout our lives, so that should certainly be reflected in literature. I think one of the limitations of some feminist movements and/or thinkers is the refusal to acknowledge that women aren’t monolithic; they don’t all share the same values or goals, and there’s no automatic instinct for female solidarity that kicks in whenever one of us is in trouble (women of color learned this very early on when dealing with white middle-class feminists; queer women know this about straight women, etc.). At the same time, we do need to make sure that “mean girls” aren’t represented in a disproportionate way—and I can immediately think of books I’ve read recently that stress solidarity among teenage girls (Shine, Coconut Moon; Down to the Bone); I think lots of books feature girls who are best friends, where loyalty, trust, and compassion are central. So long as we’ve got balance, I’m satisfied, though it would also help if writers examined WHY girls are sometimes vicious instead of heightening tension between girls just to create drama."

Laurel Snyder: "This is funny timing, because I've recently had three different friends ask me for advice on "good mean-girl books" for their struggling daughters. A month ago I think I might have suggested that the "mean girl" is an archetype, a literary figure of sorts. But suddenly I'm remembering the daily hell of the lunch table. The torture of wearing the wrong jeans.

And I know, I KNOW that most tortured awesome girls will go off into their adult lives and recover, and grow wings and leave the stupid mean girls in a cloud of dust. Most girls won't won't upturn the social order of the lunchroom, so much as they'll outgrow it. It WILL make them stronger in some cases, but slowly, quietly. Not by page 200. I'm not sure that the treatment of these situations is usually very realistic in YA (though I'm no expert, and will be curious to see what others say). I think mean-girl-itis tends to get "resolved" in most books, in ways that my own twisted high school experience didn't get resolved until college, where I realized that the mean girls had always been insecure morons.

Are there books like that? Where the picked-on kid goes home for the holidays at age 20, and only feels sorry for the dumb mean girl? I found that emotion really satisfying myself. Sympathy as vengeance."

Melissa Wyatt: "I don't know if the volume of mean girl teen lit correlates with actual mean girl statistics, but yeah, I know that the mean girl phenomena is very real. I have nieces and young girlfriends dealing with it firsthand. The scary thing, though, is that the mean girl has morphed since I was a teen. She doesn't limit herself to using her tongue to take down her prey. She's become physically violent, films her attacks and puts them on YouTube. If she was acting out of fear or insecurity before, needing to tear down other girls to make herself feel stronger, why does she now need to inflict physical pain?

It's interesting to consider if she's an unfair stereotype. I do think she sometimes gets talked about with wonder because it is still unexpected to think of girls being this aggressive. We expect it from boys, so even though mean boys abound, they don't generate as much surprise. And yet today, we encourage girls to BE more aggressive. And certainly, that's important in many ways. But are they getting the wrong message or taking it the wrong way? Or is there something else at work, driving the kind of social fear that leads to violence? Girls are under so much pressure to be so many things today, is it any wonder they're confused?

Anyway, I believe the mean girl is real and she's out there and she's going to be written about, especially in YA because it's such a perfect place to think about the "whys." And the small comfort that if you are her victim, you are not alone.

As for whether it's easier to write about mean girls than nice ones...Well, there really wouldn't be a story if everyone in it was nice! That's why people don't write them. Fascinating--and tough--question as always!"

Sara Ryan: "Girls who are mean definitely exist, and have always existed. (Are you thinking of one? I am.) But few if any girls are all mean, all the time. I think that Mean Girls(tm) can be enticing as characters because they create conflict by their very presence in a story. And once you've established that they're Mean Girls, no need to worry about their motivation -- they're just mean! (Unless, of course, they're publicly Mean but secretly Nice, in which case they will eventually repent.)

Also, since insults are the primary means by which Mean Girls(tm) communicate, they're an excuse to use all the best/worst lines you've been storing up over the years.

But a Mean Girl(tm) is also, by definition, two-dimensional; a type rather than a fully rounded character. It's more challenging, but ultimately more rewarding, to write about girls who sometimes act mean, like Julia and Miranda in Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, or worse than mean, like Leah in Jo Knowles' Lessons From A Dead Girl. Because the truth is that friendships are complicated, jealousy and resentment can coexist with affection and admiration, and there are times when we are all mean girls."

Kekla Magoon: "I can't comment knowledgeably about the mean girl phenomenon because I don't really understand it myself. These stories don't typically appeal to me, at least when they're glorifying the mean girls as heroines or role models. I connect with the stories that take the point of view of someone who falls on the outside of these sorts of cliques, and/or suffers on their margins. I do think the archetypal "mean girl" character reflects reality, but only a slice of it. So does the idea of popular girl cliques who step on others in the quest for...whatever it is they're truly after, be it popularity, the illusion of control over their lives, or the lives of others, or simply the heady assurance that they have something other people want. Where I see meanness, I see weakness, and those aren't characters I want to get close to, though they can serve a story in myriad ways.

One last point: I believe the battles "mean girls" wage are encouraged by our culture. Women are taught that we have to change ourselves to be accepted, be it through clothes or makeup or attitude, and while the desire to support each other is second-nature, we so often are pitted against each other in small ways--who's prettier, smarter, most likely to succeed--that lead to in-fighting, and a thirst to be on top, because not everybody can be. It makes me sad, but that's what I see. Only sometimes in real life, but always in mean girl characters."

Neesha Meminger: "This is a question I've often pondered myself. I think my main concern with the "mean girls" phenomenon is that they focus on inter-personal dynamics without also looking at the larger, social,
economic, and political constructs within which we all function. In the case of books, films, television shows, and other mean girls representations, certain isolated incidents are used to somehow prove that *everyone* can be abusive and that violence is a natural and intrinsic part of human nature; without any consideration of the power imbalances at play.

For instance, yes there are mean girls. Of course girls in high school (and middle school and grade school) can be horribly cruel to one another. Girls can absolutely be bullies. Girls beat one another up and can be downright
vicious to those who are perceived to be "different" or "weaker." Whenever this issue is raised, I am reminded of the 1996 case of Reena Virk, the Indian, Punjabi teen who was murdered by a gang of mostly girls in British
Columbia, Canada. She was viciously attacked by girls she had desperately wanted to be friends with.

The media responded to this horrific tragedy by labeling it as "girl violence" or the "rise of girl gangs." The whole focus was on the fact that the group of teens who beat Virk to death were mostly girls. There was no race analysis, no class analysis, and absolutely no mention of enforced hetero-normativity (for a great, non-mainstream analysis of that case, see Yasmin Jiwani's essays as well as Sheila Batacharya's).

It was *one* incident that now, somehow, proved that girls can be murderers, too. That girls can be just as vicious as boys, and violence has nothing to do with power structures; that it is really all about inter-personal dynamics.

Meanwhile, here are just a few stats from FREDA with some specifics to consider:

~ Of harassment incidents reported to police in 1994-95, 8 in 10 victims were female, and 9 in 10 of the accused were male (Kong 1996).
~ Most multiple-victim homicides and murder-suicides were family-related, and the vast majority of accused persons in these types of incidents were male" (Statistics Canada 2002)
~ Women constitute 98% of spousal violence victims of kidnapping/hostage-taking and sexual assault (Fitzgerald 1999)
~ Of persons charged: 98% of sexual assaults are by men and 86% of violent crimes are committed by men (Johnson 1996).

And the list goes on.

Young women and girls grow up in the same world young males do. They learn how to become victims or perpetrators in the same society, the same schools, and are bombarded with the same media representations. And the power structure, with its many imbalances, is the unseen scaffolding propping up all of our psychological, emotional, and spiritual development.

I don't mind reading books about mean girls, as long as they are placed within the context of the larger world and the power dynamics and complexities of that larger world. Otherwise, these stories come off as flat and cliched. They become re-creations of the old "victim meets bully, victim suffers, victim learns to fight back" story--which can be a wonderful, timeless, empowering story to be sure; not implying otherwise. But when the bullies/"mean girls" are young women and the victims are young women, there needs to be a deeper exploration of hidden power dynamics at play in addition to the complex psychological layers of the characters.

Those complexities in a story, as well as the Truth at its core, are what make any book an interesting, absorbing, powerful read.

Margo Rabb: "I'm writing this while 7+ months pregnant, and lately, I've been thinking a lot about how much being pregnant is like being an adolescent. The deluge of hormones, your body doing weird things, the confusion of your life changing dramatically...it reminds me of how incredibly hard it is to be a teenager, and how sensitive and vulnerable you are during those years. I think as adults we forget what that feels like--how an offhand criticism can make you bawl, or how your moods can change instantaneously, with depths and highs that are incomprehensible to most adults.

My point is that the mean girls are real--but what's also real is the sensitivity that teen girls have to the nuances of their mean-ness. As an adult, it's usually fairly easy to brush off criticisms and avoid people who you don't get along with. As a teen, the tiniest comment from an insensitive girl or boy can send you into a tailspin, and you may remember it for the rest of your life. Being a teen is so hard...the highs are higher, the lows are lower, and the mean girls are way, way meaner. At least I think that reading about those girls does make it a little bit easier to deal with them in real life. (At least I hope so.)"

[Final pic in Neesha's post is of Reena Virk; beaten by a pack of girls and murdered at age 14.]

ETA: Author Courtney Summers has an excellent post up on why she wrote about mean girls - great discussion in the comments.