9PM – In my guy friend’s section playing ‘ruit before going to Perkins to start my rough draft for ENG 151. I’m the only girl in a room full of boys drinking Heineken and Bud Light. More of my friends come over and some guys I’ve never seen before arrive, probably freshmen. The guys introduce themselves and someone standing by the fridge tosses them all a beer. They start talking.
11PM – A couple of my girl friends show up and I know that there’s no way I’ll make it to Perkins now. Soon it becomes more of a party: we’ve gone through all the beers I actually enjoy and have moved on to the Keystone and Busch Light. A few freshmen girls in mini-skirts show up. Ew, freshmen girls. Are you, like, serious? Immediately my girl friends start gossiping about them. What are they wearing? Who do they even know here? Why do they sound so stupid? That one won’t stop saying ‘like.’ One of my girl friends stares down a guy as he goes to hand them beers. We obviously don’t talk to the girls. Instead, we make snide remarks to our guy friends about how they must be sluts, and give them death glares the entire night.
But why are we doing this? Why is it that girls are so quick to negatively judge one another? This is clearly not how my guy friends acted when the freshmen boys came into the room. Is that how you’d like to be welcomed upon entering a room full of new people? In this case in particular they’re freshmen girls, they just got to college. They’re wearing short skirts because that’s what they’ve seen in pictures of college parties. And don’t even try to pretend that you don’t own clothes like that.
Moreover, why are we so insistent on calling each other sluts? Yes, it may be true that some girls are trying to hook up with your guy friends, so what? We’re in college. If you’re single, you’ve been in the same position. Give other girls the benefit of the doubt. Put yourself in her place because you’ve been there. You’re one in the same. You’re a girl, too. And like Tina Fey says in Mean Girls (when in doubt, always quote Mean Girls), “You girls have to stop calling each other sluts and whores, it just makes it OK for guys to call you sluts and whores.”
We all seem to be under the impression that we need to separate ourselves from the rest of womankind. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a girl say or have said myself, “I’m not that kind of girl” or, “I hate girls.” Guys don’t hate guys! Why are we sabotaging ourselves?
We are wired to be inherently competitive with one another and this is why guys will always have the upper hand. Our disgust with each other is what fuels it. They have fraternity, where is our sorority?
Picture: http://bored-idiots111.blogspot.com/2011/07/disadvantages-of-living-with…
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Duke chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.