Decoding Female Competition:
Aggression, Motivations, and Social Dynamics
One of the greatest
characteristics of the interaction between girls is that there are aspects of comparison,
undercutting, competing and undermining one another. The nature of the
relationship between girls makes it a requirement to stay on guard when in the
presence of other girls. This is, however, limitation about developing relationships and positive interactions with one another. Female
competitiveness is a great aspect that
could help understand how women relate to one another.
Research shows that women do have indirect aggressive expression towards other
women and it is usually a facto of the need to self-promote themselves as well
as the need to derogate rivals. There exist
various theories that can help explain the reason why women express indirect
aggression towards one another. One theory
is natural selection. One aspect is associated with the natural need for women to protect themselves from harm. Indirect
expression in this sense helps lower the number of other women in the
surrounding. The other aspect is associated
with being prized by other men, and this
is a factor that creates great levels of competition between women (Stockley, 2013).
It is associated
with the need to appeal to men, and hence
women express indirect aggression towards others. The natural need to protect
the womb as well as the need to wade off any competitions for mates show how
the theory of natural selection can help explain the behaviors of women about indirect aggression. The notion of mean
girls is very common because it is a natural characteristic
associated with the interactions between women. It
is, consequently, important to understand the reasons why girls exhibit meanness
and hostility towards one another (Stockley,
2013).
As young girls come of age, a new dimension of their lives develops. This is one associated with adolescence
characterized by the need to look good, pointing out the flaws in other girls
and the need to get the attention of boys. These are all aspects of the new
dimension girl’s face when they hit puberty. In most cases, close friends during childhood end up distancing themselves
from one another.
Another theory is associated with
the need for self-competition in women. An example is when a girl looks at
other girls, but instead, deep down she is examining her self, trying to figure
out her place in the world.in most cases these theories explain how women
become highly competitive with others, express high levels of aggression, and
sometimes it becomes violence. These are behaviors
that have for many years been attributed
to men. Research shows the existence of intrasexual competition between males, and it is
attributed to the need to attract females (GORDON, 2015).
However, most research has been done by males and
also focused on males. There is limited information relating to the interactions
between women. For some time especially in the 80s science took a turn and applied
much focus on women. For many years there has been the notion that women are
uncompetitive and are very passive, but
research shows that this is completely wrong. Women have been found to express
great levels of aggression towards one another, and this is a completion for a suitable male counterpart. The need to secure a
suitable mate is very important. It explores the theory of natural selection (Fagan, 2012).
Intra-sexual competition between women has been explained as a need to attract the
opposite sex and in evolutionary perspectives explores two forms of the need
for derogating other females as well as the need for self-promotion. Men
demonstrate competition through the promotion of their physicality as well as
their social status. These are all characteristics that would attract females. Women, on the other hand, tend to promote their
attractiveness and youthfulness, and
these are the characteristics that are favored by me. Form men derogation
occurs in the form of criticizing the physically and economic capabilities of
other men while girls derogate others by disparaging the character, age, and appearance of other females.
There are also other tactics that can be used to
explain intra-sexual competition. One is manipulation of a competitor and the other is the manipulation of
a mate. Manipulation of mate is associated with trying to win the
competition especially when one is leading. This
is associated with changing circumstances
for the mate to ensure that they do not want
toile efforts by competitors. An example is when a girl in a couple notices pretty women before the boyfriend notices, and thus she asks them to change
direction before he notices the other women (GORDON, 2015).
In this scenario,
the girl has manipulated the mate and ensured she is leading in the completion.
On the other hand manipulation of the competitor is associated with influencing
a competition regarding the mate. It is
associated with influencing the perception the competitor has toward a
particular male from which the females are competing for. An example is when two girls are attracted to a male and one
of them bad mouths the male in front of the other. The other picks this comment
and is manipulated (Fagan, 2012).
Analysis of the completion between women explores
three main factors. The first one is associated
with the need for physical protection. This physical; protection arises from
the natural sense associated pregnancies and childbirth.
Women are wired to protect them sleeves physically to protect themselves from
any form of interference that would put their future capacity to get pregnant in jeopardy. It is for this reason that women
express indirect aggression which is usually in the form of verbal gymnastics
against other females and has limited physical confrontations towards other
women (GORDON, 2015).
The second factor is
associated with the need for women to create a common playing field especially when there exists a highly exceptional woman in the midst.
In most cases, women with high status and
are attractive encounter high level of hostility from other women. These women
need little help especially when it comes to protecting themselves from competition
from other women. Other women are greatly threatened by these women and deal with
them by leveling the playing field.
This
is usually demonstrated by an emphasis on
standards, sharing for all women and the aspect of uniformity. They try to make
these aspects normal aspects of the interactions. This shows how women deal with other women they perceive as exceptional, and promotion of uniformity offers
a common playground where they have a
chance of winning (Stockley, 2013).
The third factor is
associated how women deal with one another during extreme cases. This is demonstrated by exclusion from the rest.
Social exclusion is usually a factor of high competition. This usually happens when an exceptional woman appears,
and the rest feel extremely threatened. They result to socially excluding her
to ensure that their chances of success with males in the area are high (GORDON,
2015).
The concept of competition between women is broad, and other
theories help explain it. One is associated with the rise in
testosterone levels in women especially when the received the smell of
ovulating women from their t-shirts. The smell of ovulating women is an indication of a threat for the available
males because of the need to mate. The smell causes a trigger in other women
which causes a rise in testosterone and
thus explains the hostility as well as the preparation to express aggressive
behavior in completion with the other females (Stockley, 2013).
Another
theory is based on the notion that women
use appearance as a basis for condemning as well as judging one another.
Appearance is a natural factor that defines the psychology of women. Hood or provocative
appearance in a woman means that she will likely get the attention of males
wherever she passes and this is always met
with hostility by other women. It is an example that explains how appearance is
a factor that can be used to show competition among women (Sphancer, 2014).
In most cases, women are the first people to condemn
other women with provocative appearances. This
is directly related to the natural process of defending themselves in a
situation of competition. It supports the theory that the more attractive a
woman is, the more hostility she will get
from the women around her. This is
because attraction is what men want most and thus she would create a threat to
the rest of the women (Fagan, 2012).
Sexual behavior is a great factor that explains competition
and aggression in women. Studies show that women tend to be more aggressive and
show a lot of criticism over women that show high levels of sexuality as well
as promiscuity. Women tend to accept other women with less to non-sexual
permissiveness regardless of the level of their sexuality. This is a scenario
that explains how women want to protect their partners from women with the
potential of snatching them. Sexual behavior about
the perception women have on the term has led to the development of social stigma associated with the term slut (Sphancer, 2014).
It is a term labeled
to women who show high levels of permissiveness and as a result women condemn
and criticize such women. It has become a
term that many women fear and there is always the fear of being termed a slut.
Women feel that it may stick and never go away. It is a highly developed factor
that has created a lot of stigma in women. However, the fundamental aspects are associated with how women guard their
partners from other women who are more sexually active. Men have the perception
that with a promiscuous woman, it is easier to have sexual relations. These
women are, therefore, more attractive and
other women get threatened by the fact that more men will be attracted. The
power given to the title slut is associated
with a mechanism used to drive away promiscuous women. Many women fear being labeled a slut and this is because of the
power is given to the term by other women
as a means to protect and guard their mates (Sphancer, 2014).
The need for women to protect themselves transcended
to the enforcement of strict measures and norms that helped limit aspects of
sexuality and appearance. Some cultural practices such as foot biding within
the Chinese community as well as female genital mutilations in Muslims and many
cultures in Africa are good examples of such strict norms. They involve
physical changes in the bodies of women (Sphancer,
2014).
The main enforcers of these traditions are mothers
and grandmothers and were mostly carried out with the need to limit the sexual
behavior of women. Female genital mutilation was done to reduce the ability of
women to enjoy sex and thus limit their promiscuity. They would then be fit for
marriage and please only their husbands instead. Some girls get their vaginal
openings sewed shut to prevent them from engaging in sexual activity until they
get married to their future husbands. In foot binding, young girls would have
their feet bound was a custom that attached beauty and attraction to the women.
These are two examples of strict norms used in the
society to limit the sexual behavior of women. They ensure that women pose
limited threats to men that do not belong to them. Having mothers and grandmothers
as chief enforcers of these norms confirm the observation of competition among
women by developing restrictions in sexual activities (GORDON, 2015).
The above scenario confirms
the notion associated with how sexual
behavior influences the interactions among women. It creates more aggressive
behavior towards women that are considered
as a threat. Sexual behavior is also a factor that adds up to appearance, and attraction
and are all attributes that influence aggression and hostility in women (Fagan, 2012).
It is therefore important to understand how meanness
among young girls comes to be. As young girls enter into puberty, the world
turns around and becomes more complicated. Girls that had for a long time been friends
lose their ties and sometimes become mean to one another. This is a factor associated with competition
among women. As girls become teenagers,
the aspects of beauty, appearance, and
sexuality become great aspects of their lives (Stockley, 2013).
They respond to this dimension of their lives by expressing
aggressive behavior towards one another. Completion among girls can be
explained using several concepts. Expression of aggression is first of all
because of the need to self-promote themselves. Self-promotion is associated with girls trying to make themselves
more attractive. It is associated with
aspects of manipulating the perception of the opposite sex to make them attracted
to them. The other aspect is the derogating of other girls and is associated with being spiteful of other
women. They are also aspects that show how complex the relationship between
women (Sphancer, 2014).
For many years the perception about women has been
that they are not competitive and that they are passive. However, this is a wrong notion and has fueled
by the fact that there has been limited research on women. Competition among
women is as a result of factors of beauty, attraction,
and sexuality. These are factors based on the theory of natural selection
whereby women compete for mates. Women
express aggressive behavior because of the existence
of threats from other women. The aspect of meanness in young girls can, therefore, be examined based on their need
to protect themselves from
other women (Stockley, 2013).
References
Fagan, C. (2012). Are You A Mean Girl?
Retrieved from
https://thoughtcatalog.com/chelsea-fagan/2012/12/are-you-a-mean-girl/
Girls Behaviour. (2017). Retrieved from
https://girlsleadership.org/blog/what-motivates-mean-girl-behavior/
GORDON, E. V. (2015). Why
Women Compete With Each Other. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/opinion/sunday/why-women-compete-with-each-other.html
Sphancer, N. (2014). Feminine
Foes: New Science Explores Female Competition. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201401/feminine-foes-new-science-explores-female-competition
Stockley, P. (2013). Female
competition and aggression: interdisciplinary perspectives. Philos Trans.
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