Mean Girls & The Sisterhood

A few days ago, I was debating whether I was reinforcing gender stereotypes by making a different type of Easter basket for my female cousin than her three other male cousins. Later that day I heard moms talk about differences they've seen in observing boys and girls interacting withi one another. Today I'm reading about gender classifications and equal protection in my constitutional law casebook.

It's interesting to think about what differences between males and females are biological and what differences are influenced by environment. Though I've never taken a class on gender and women's rights have never been my primary cause (I do still consider myself a feminist though), I do seem to think about this a lot.

Right off the bat I will state the obvious and say that there is male-based discrimination against females. The fact that some judges will not let female lawyers walk into the courtroom with a pantsuit, as opposed to a skirtsuit, is ridiculous. Naturally there are more serious issues, like equal pay, but they're a little more contentious.

And I will also concede that there is discrimination against males by both males and females. From societal discrimination of males being nurses or flight attendants to more institutional discrimination like requiring men to pay alimony but not women if they are working and their ex-husband is not.

But I feel like something that never gets addressed is women holding each other back. I've thought about it before (and maybe even wrote about it) but what made me think about it again was when I was at Easter dinner and the mom's were talking about how vicious girls are to each other. They were talking about how 8 year old girls would talk behind other girl's backs because they didn't have the right color Ugg boots, and how the girls would try to spread rumors to the boys about other girls.

I'd like to say the females grow out of this but I just don't know. It seems like everyone can relate to the movie "Mean Girls." Moreover, cliques and exclusivitiy aren't just reserved for the popular girls, it happens at all levels of the female social totem pole. What goes on amongst 8 year olds on the playground hardly seems different than what happens in the halls of high schools, the dorms of college, and at the law school.

Beyond that, I cannot speak from personal experience but it seems to continue. I remember at a women's networking tea the well-established female lawyers were talking about how unfortunate it was when young female lawyers would compete simply against each other, almost accepting the fact that the number of female positions in law firms was set in stone; like there was a quota for the number of successful females.

I think like any group who has been historically oppressed, women first need to help each other out. And I guess the first step in that for me is making more female friends since I've always gravitated towards befriending males. Because really, I just want to see some more gender equality in my lifetime and a female President would definitely be a bonus.