Rawr.
Stamped: November 13th, 2006 | Toggle Similar
Tagged: confession of the week, folklore, quantum physics, shoes.
After the topic of and commentary on my last post, I got to thinking about an age-old discussion centered around the social behavior of females. Coupling that with an observation that my boyfriend made recently (Him: You're an alpha female. Me: Oh. So, wait. Is that hot?) I figured I needed to do some exploration on the topic. And by "exploration" I mean that I'll list a bunch of theories and questions, probably offer no further insight, and then hope that someone will figure it all out for me. That someone? You. Ready?
Of course, you'll need some clarity here first. This "topic" that I'm referring to is the notion that women dress, act, and strut–essentially–for other women. I suppose this could also be tied in to address how women really seek approval and respect from fellow females more than they do from males, hot and sexy or otherwise.
I tend to believe this theory holds water; in fact, I don't think that's the part that's ever in question. The part to investigate is why these women behave this way, and how many of us do? I'll admit that I am guilty of dressing, acting, and strutting for chicks. And, no, I'm not necessarily trying to get any action. I will also admit that recieving a compliment from a certain type of female will trump that of one from a guy. Though, not always. But let's not get into the loopholes before completely exhausting the premise. (Don't I sound scientific?)
The easy response to identifying the girls that participate in–consciously or subconciously–this type of social conduct is to lay the burden on low self-esteem. Women who are not fully confident in themselves will feel the need to compete with other females or seek their praises. While this seems to float in the logic pool, I'm not so sure it rings true with me. Are all bitches simply insecure? Is aggression always a sign of weakness? It's easy to say yes, I think. But let's look at the gender flip side. When a guy decides to get into a fight at a bar, is he suffering from a low self-image? Or how about when he calls his buddy a homo? Is that his own insecurity about his sexuality? In either case, I fully doubt it.
In all seriousness, I'm not trying to start some sort of feminist debate here. I'm just trying to look at illogical behavior with some logical lenses. In fact, I tend to believe that men and women are so inherently different that it's often nonsensical to compare the two.
Though, I just did, didn't I? God, this is exhausting.
Here's the bottom line, I guess: why do women feel threatened by other chicks? I think it's biology. Why do men brawl? Same reason. Of course, there's always going to be other variables, but sometimes it just makes sense to pick the simplest solution. We're all animals, and despite our efforts to disguise this, we're never going to escape those roots.
So maybe I am an alpha female. That's kind of got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Plus, it totally makes me want to do the She-Ra shout on top of a jagged mountain. But, I mean, I'd only do it if you ladies thought it was funny. Oh, and if I could change out of these super-fucking killer heels. Aren't they hot?
Last 5 posts by Jenna
- peace out, my lovlies - June 8th, 2007
- bringing sexy back - May 28th, 2007
- I'm no James Woods - May 21st, 2007
- fellow commuters: grunt! - May 14th, 2007
- No, no I don't. - May 7th, 2007
Jenna:
I think you have two things going here. Set aside culture (a big thing for humans) for a minute and consider the biology (as you already have). To me, there are sound biological reasons for male promiscuity (unlimited sperm) and female coyness (limited eggs - needs the most fit male to fertilize them). Human culture obviously creates many exceptions to this rule, but I think it’s still at work in the background. Along these lines, perhaps subtle approval from other women is an affirmation of reproductive fitness for the woman. There’s less need for women to compete - no shortage of guys around willing to contribute sperm. In terms of men fighting, etc., I think it’s just a manifestation of the old territory and competition behaviors that we’ve evolved. I think it’s silly to pretend that human evolution is not visible in basic behaviors we see today.
I bet those heels are indeed hot.
So as far as those of us who do feel competitive with other women, you’d have to lean toward the low self-esteem theory, huh? Even though–biologically–we don’t need to be, there’s still got to be some sort of connection to our animal roots. I’m having trouble laying all the blame on my poor self-image. Can I blame this “issue” on my mother?
My biggest question from all of this postulating (see, you’re not the only one who can sound smart!) is: where in the hell did you get those pictures? They’re not hand-drawn, are they? Because that would make you talented and sexy…
You have a boyfriend? What a turn off.
I can’t think of any biological reason for women to compete, so it must be cultural (self-esteem, or whatever). Unless it could be that early human females often helped each other raise their young (as some other great apes and other human societies do now), so becoming “alpha”, or seeking group approval enhances the chances of getting help with the kids. Of course, I could always be overlooking some obvious reason - wouldn’t be the first time…
i
Whoops, I broke my comment by trying to use a less than symbol in conjunction with a 3.
I meant to sidetrack the debate with my simple and serious comment of….
“i heart ur brain”