With two daughters, I hear a lot about “mean girls.” It seems like every week there’s more drama about who’s not speaking to whom, and who called who certain bad names. I’m sure my own daughters participate more than they admit.
Today I was getting a pedicure (thanks to my wonderful birthday present from my husband 
) and the nail tech and I got to talking about such girl antics. At first I thought we were of one mind about the whole issue, but then she told me a story that left me speechless. She said that the other day her second-grade daughter came home complaining about another girl in her class. The mom (this woman I was speaking with) proceeded to tell her daughter, “Oh, ignore her… she’s a bitch anyway, just like her mother.”
I was shocked. I’ve heard moms talk like that to their teenage daughters, but never had I heard a mom talk that… er, frankly… with her 8-year-old.
Wait, frank is not the right word. Or is it? Has such foul language become so accepted in our culture that it’s OK to use it with second graders?
When moms are telling their daughters that other women are bitches, we are doing our daughters (and their whole generation) a huge disservice. We are continuing a cycle of mean girls that has absolutely no benefit in our culture. Doesn’t this mom realize she is contributing to the problem instead of helping to fix it?
When I got home and told my husband this story, he said he hears it all day at work. The women in his office frequently throw verbal punches at each other, and it’s not pretty. There are women who can slay others without ever breaking a sweat (or a nail), all while wearing a smile. Of course that sort of thing happens in schools and offices everywhere.
Why must we, as women, tear each other down so much? And worse still, why do we teach our daughters that it’s OK to treat each other that way?
I know this one insignificant blog post can’t change the world, but I am publicly stating I want my home to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. So for all those women that I’ve hurt in the past with my verbal punches and negative thoughts, I apologize.
I want to follow Christ’s example, to speak words of encouragement (Ephesians 4:29) instead of insult, words of sweetness (Proverbs 16:24) instead of bitterness. I pray I will be a good example for my daughters, so together we can help break the mean girl cycle.
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