Was I a Mean Girl??
I’ve always viewed myself as a nice girl. I’ve always gotten people telling me how friendly I am and have gotten asked a countless number of times if “I always smile this much”. I’ve even had girls gossip about me saying how they don’t like me because I’m so fake, although I’ve truly never been one of those fake girls.
It wasn’t until a few months ago that I got a strange wake up call that really made me question if my self-perception of myself in high school was, in fact, accurate. This was when my girlfriends and I decided to pull out the old yearbook.
It seemed like a fun time. It would allow us to reminisce about the old days, read the comments written in the covers from friends long ago, re-live our glory days as captains of the soccer team and members of student council. But it was looking through these yearbooks that we all had the strange realization that we were ignorant towards for so long – we may have been mean girls.
As I peruse through these pages, I can’t help but to think of those haunting images in many cult classics like The Heathers and Mean Girls. My mind filled with flashbacks of things I had long ago forgotten, like the feud between the two cliques. There were never any real disputes. Sure, the odd screaming match broke out in the cafeteria sometimes, but for the most part this rivalry was a silent battle of dirty looks and gossip. But these pages in front of me now are the most passive aggressive attempts of jabbing that there is. And I can’t help but feel a little bothered that our children will one day look at these and say, “were they referring to you??”
For example, let’s start with the most obvious form of cliqueiness: our grade twelve pictures. If you flip to these pages you’ll think I’m a loser. I’m the only one on the page wearing a lei. However, as you turn the pages you’ll notice that many more people are also sporting the flowery necklace as a way to state that yes, we are all one group. I even remember a certain dilemma when one person didn’t want the other person to wear the lei because they were not really part of the group… I didn’t think much of this at the time.
Next are the graduating comments, you know, the ones that you fill out next to your grad pics that say things like nickname, pet peeves, etc. It is these comments that truly show the mean girl status in our high school. For example, two girls who were once great friends but then had a falling out used these comments as a way to get their revenge. The one girls name resembled a food item. The comment in the other girl’s pet peeves stated ‘the box of (insert food item) that is way too easy to get in to.’ I don’t think they really meant the food, and even though I was more friends with the girl that wrote the message, I can admit that this is true mean girl spirit.
Another example, not quite as clever but gets to the point none-the-less. A comment in one girl’s pet peeves states ‘people who think they are better than the rest of us… you know who you are girls!’ Ouch. That sort of statement deserves a finger snap and a head roll. Further down, you will read that her future plans are to ‘get revenge and help her friend build the barn’. I remember feeling a little paranoid for my life after reading this.
Other people made it even clearer than that. Many people simply listed names of others in our graduating class as their pet peeves, although I found that guys did this far more often than the girls. Either way, when I look back I notice that the movies I once found to be far-fetched and exaggerated, like Mean Girls, are really not that far off after all. It also makes me very nervous for my ten-year high school reunion, if not for the fear of dirty looks then for the fear of being found in a barn after.
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5 Comments to Was I a Mean Girl??
Oh Yes we know who we are!! Maybe if you guys werent such stuck up bitches we wouldnt have been ” Mean Girls”. Seriously get over highschool cause no one cares! Get a life and stop talking about us! Grow the fuck up and get something else to BLOG about! We havent seen or talked to you in more then 5 years so get over us! Just because our lifes are more exciting then yours doesnt give you the right to talk shit about us! Thanks! Happy BLOGGING!!
June 24, 2009
Well, I don’t know. I don’t think girls could be that callous and petty for realsies. Joyeux BLOGGING!!!!11!!11
August 21, 2009
hey Jus,
I just read this blog (sorry it’s late), but that also means I read the comments. I thought it was funny. I’m not sure who Holly is or whatever you may or may not have done to her so very long ago, but I think it’s cool that you acknowledge your “mean-girlness” and not so cool that Holly is obviously the one who has not gotten over it (and also didn’t read the blog correctly)
holly, dude, chill.
jus, I like your blogs. hope things are cool with you.
side note to holly: “then” means at a later date, and “than” is to compare something.
August 28, 2009
people who think they are better than the rest of us… you know who you are girls!’ Ouch. That sort of statement deserves a finger snap and a head roll. Further down, you will read that her future plans are to ‘get revenge and help her friend build the barn’. I remember feeling a little paranoid for my life after reading this.—–
five years have passed since i wrote these words , five yrs of growing up and finding out how the world really is.I have seen the birth of my friends children , the birth of my own children , the death of a close friend , and many around me move out westto enjoy life ,ect .so much has occered since high school it is crazy!so when i started thinking about what i was going to write after reading your blog this is what I wanted to say back to you
first of all this is a formal sorry to think that you justine were ever going to be found in a barn . I never knew you in highschool and these comments were not made towards you at all . some of your freinds however were not the nicest people in high school and when you are within that kind of group ,many people right away think that you are that same kind of girl . life is to short to ever do this to anyone . if anyone reads my comments please give everyone that walks into your life a fair chance , they could be an amazing person .so in question do I think that you were a mean girl . no i dont think that you were , did some of your close friends talk about mine and put them down . Did you . These are questions that are not important anymore and will not matter at our 1o yr reunion hopefully . That night we will talk about the good times , the husbands , the kids, where we live now, what kind of houses we have , the jobs we have, ect , oh and if that kristen girl is still full of drama they way she was in high school and hopefully that answer will be a NO! LOL SEE ya in 5 yrs to celebrate the glory days of good old high school
November 29, 2009
i think no matter how old you are or what high school you went to there are always mean girls. whether it be you or the plastics, everyone makes mistakes. so holly, clearly you are still a little bitter about something that happened 5 years ago, therefore YOU are the one that needs to seriously get over high school, cause you obviously care!!!!
just a side note, i think YOU (holly) needs to get a life and some anger managment while your at it! keep blogging jus, and dont let the comments of people that matter so little to you bother you!
xoxo
June 19, 2009