Does anyone know anybody who was a Mean Girl? Have they ever explained why they did it?

I know plenty who still are... I'm just better at avoiding them now.

There was one mean girl from my youth who I saw in a picture on facebook and she'd gotten pretty plump. She'd been particularly rail-thin as a kid and rather nasty to anyone who was not (and was not one of her friends). Not long after I was at a party with some old friends (who I see maybe once every few years) and we were all "Dude, Mary C____ got FAT... I shouldn't care... but... man..." and then we'd all laugh. We knew we should be over it entirely, but apparently we were not. For the next little while, "Mary's FAT" could send us into hysterics. It was awesome.

One interview done. It went OK, I think. Not great, but not terrible, either. One more tomorrow.

Does anyone know anybody who was a Mean Girl? Have they ever explained why they did it?

Let's go find Laura Darbyshire, my personal bête noire, and beat it out of her.

Somewhere Ms. Darbyshire shuddered in dread, and she knows not why.

I've always assumed it was a power thing - I'd like to have more power. The power to make you scared or feel bad about yourself counts. I gain more power by taking yours.

Yeah, power. When I was mean, it was basically because I could be. I didn't have that dynamic in my other relationships, and so when I did have the upper hand, I was going to play it out, other people be damned. Selfishness, basically.

I didn't have that dynamic in my other relationships, and so when I did have the upper hand, I was going to play it out, other people be damned.

I see this in kids all the time, certainly I see it in my kids. And Franny, like Matilda, is very empathetic and will offer comfort and care when she sees someone is hurting. But she'll also be a beeyotch to her little brother if it serves her purposes.

When I was a little kid I had big sisters looking out for me, so nobody was mean to me unless you count my sister. I saw, and was sometimes subject to, a lot more bullying in middle school and high school than in grade school. My school was non-standard in that the cruelest, most aggressive bullies were members of the D&D crowd. But when I see those guys now, as adults? They are great guys and I really like them.

Does anyone know anybody who was a Mean Girl? Have they ever explained why they did it?

The one I know has no clue that they did anything bad. It was all just harmless "teasing". Just kids being kids. Yeah. She doesn't recall the time I got shoved down a flight of stairs.

bitterness tag, does not close

I think moving around a lot as a kid took me out of the bullying situation as I don't recall ever being bullied or being around others being bullied. Probably because I was always the new kid and by the time I formed friendships, it was time to move again. But I'm remembering my brother was totally bullied (an itching powder incident comes to mind that I'd go ape shit over if it happened to my kid), so there goes that theory.

The one I know has no clue that they did anything bad. It was all just harmless "teasing".

This is often the case. It's a kind of privilege so they're blind to it.