Bree

Last week, two girls in my area were charged with assaulting a classmate. The victim called these two girls "sluts" and received a severe beating for her trouble. She is now in the hospital in a coma with brain swelling.

Girls are just as mean as boys.

sullster

Maybe girls are actually a little meaner than boys.

I come from another reality when it comes to this issue of female on female violence. I now realise that there is more of it than it seemed to me.

How does a girl handle being picked on and assualted by other girls? The classic path of males is to work-out, get stronger, form alliances with other males,(preferably large ones), and either fight back or intimidate with a show of force.

The possiblity of violence is always present in the male world from the earliest time. A lot of male behaviour is motivated by the desire to intimidate possible opponents. Teenage boys make an art out of looking tough, no matter how meek and mild they may be.

It seems to me that violent and aggressive girls can cause more mental trauma for her fellow females than even the bully boys do with their male victims. In a sense nature has made the male body far more useful for fighting than is the female body. I feel badly for small non-aggressive females who are confronted by larger aggressive ones. It seems even worse than the comparable male confrontation.

brighid

I don't think it has much to do with whether or not someone is biologically male or female, but rather the environment one was brought up in. Society teaches that it's not "ladylike" for a girl to fight, so MORE often then not girls use other methods to harm their opponents - gossipping, manipulation and backstabbing are common. In general, women have to be crafty because aggressive women are labeled as unfeminine, bitchy and/or gay because they aren't docile and demure.

The female body is just as capable of fighting and defending as the male, just with different strengths and weaknesses. I also think certain segments of our society have bred for the small, docile female whereas others have not deliberately attempted to select that type of female.

Men and women (IMO anyway) should be brought up similarly without strict gender roles. Girls should be encouraged to competitive in the sports arena, board room and in other areas of life without being penalized by her male and female counterparts for doing so and hence being labeled as "unfeminine" and seen as a threat. Boys should learn traditional home skills such as cooking, cleaning, the care of children, etc. without the converse stigmatization. Boys and girls should be taught how to physically defend themselves.

A man facing a much larger opponent will have the same inherent disadvantages (at least the untrained) as a female facing the same situation. Being female does not equate to weakness, nor does it mean that one cannot overcome a male adversary. I think there are more then a few of us at ii that can attest to that. In most things (except the bench press) I am pretty equally matched with my male counterparts, and there are some advantages to having a low center of gravity over a taller opponent

Brighid

Pensee

I wasn't ever into any hazing or stuff like that, but I did get into several fights when I was a teenager. I mean real fights, not the hair-pulling and nail-scratching kind.

Shake

Well, I did read the word 'lawsuits' in the text of an article about this incident, although there weren't any details as yet. I also saw that all of the attackers were 17- and 18-year-old girls and are being treated as adults in this case, as they should, and some will face potential jail time.

Brig, thanks for the clarification on the origins of the hazing as well as the history of the event. That certainly puts things into perspective a bit better.

brighid

You are welcome. As I understand it, some of the perpetrators have filed injunctions/restraining orders against the school in an attempt to stop the suspensions and expulsions. I also believe some of the victims have expressed desire (and may have actually) filed lawsuits against the girls who took part in the hazing and their families.

B