The Real Danger of Glamorizing Clique Culture
Posted by meredith on 03-24-2009
In case you missed it, this past weekend The New York Times' Style section cast a glamorous gloss over the unsettling story of a prep school student who was allegedly terrorized by a group of girls in a secret society. From the New York Times' article:
And while neither [the victim] nor the school will discuss the case, her complaint offers a tantalizing window into a world that has been glamorized and vilified by everything from “The Official Preppy Handbook” to "Gossip Girl."
The piece is taken to task by Jezebel for its "breathless, gossipy tone." And rightfully so. The article veils these cliquey bullies in intrigue , and reconfigures their harassment as some sort of secret ritual, acting as if this "tantalizing window" is no more damaging than the one offered by the YA clique lit series turned CW show "Gossip Girl."
Needless to say, there's a huge difference. On television a line of dialogue that plays like a stinging one-liner, could in reality actually inflict lasting damage (see cyberbullying, bodysnarking, etc). And that's the tamest of examples. Placing real girls in the context of these fictional "Queen Bee" characters blurs the differences between what it means to play the role of a "bitch" and actually being cruel.
With today's programming, where prime time soaps become the templates for reality shows, the lines are bound to become even more indistinguishable (Bravo is already developing a reality show based on the scandalous lives of real upper east siders, and The N already has a competitive series "Queen Bees," which in spite its aim to "reform" these mean girls still makes light of their behavior by playing it off as a game) It's an especially unsettling prospect when you consider what the series would be like drained of its satirical undertone: none of the wit and all of the cattiness. And what happens when a real Blair Waldorf is elevated to insta-celebrity status a la Lauren Conrad? Another Times' piece?
The ideal solution would be to leave the clique drama in its fictional form. But with a show in the works, and a built-in audience, this doesn't seem likely. The more feasible course of action might be for journalists to sap the breathless tone about the "cloaks and daggers" appeal, and for the rest of us to adopt a modified vocabulary about the subject that doesn't turn a bully into a "queen bee."
Categorized under: TV
March 24th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Based on the trailer, the concept of "Queen Bees" seems to be that mean girls try to learn-to-be-nice for the sake of winning $25,000.
So the show isn't necessarily saying that girls should be mean.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Thanks Eric — we're clarifying in our post, though I would say it is still promoting the stereotype by making it a "game," and letting these girls live in a mansion together knowing that their catty behavior on camera is what will make viewers tune in.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
My question is this: Did either Meredith or Anastasia write an editorial comment to The New York Times or to the writer of the article? As a former New Yorker and publicist, the one way to get The New York Times and for that matter, any major publication to "wake up" is to write a response to the editors as well as to the writer of the article. Did Jezebel respond directly to the paper? I saw her blog post. All of this is well and good-however if readers do not respond to the publication in question, nothing will change and the NY Times could use some reality checks-
The sad part of the article also is that it gives Miss Porter's school a black eye. As funny as the name sounds, it is an excellent girl's school.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Funny that the article does just as Meredith and Jezebal said – sensationalizes the issue, almost as if the NYT is trying to get a piece of the mean girls pie rather than educate on why/how these dynamics come about and are sustained.
At least fiction doesn't pretend to be informing/educating.
And while I'm not surprised, I'm disturbed that Bravo plans to do a reality show on girls like this a la Housewives of NYC. If it's on Bravo there will be no redeeming quality to the behavior, just pure drama.