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.