Mean Girls, Meaner Women: Understanding Why Women Backstab, Betray, and Trash-Talk Each Other and How to Heal

This is the first book I have read about women who bully other women. I found the subject matter riveting, revealing, insightful and informative BUT I wish the authors had gone into a little more detail about how to stand up to, or ignore these bullies and make your own life.The authors delve into Media bullying, Subliminal bullying, workplace bullying and why girls and women turn their anger inward and hurt the very person they do NOT want to be hurt -- themselves. AND solutions-- why at a young age, girls must be taught to be resourceful, independent, self-disciplined, focused and as feminine or as masculine as they wish to present -- WITHOUT fear of reprisal. And if reprisal comes along-- how to handle it.The Appendices are extremely thought-provoking. This IS an excellent book to use at group meetings in safe spaces.There is ONE sentence in this book that has a major typo and reads as if it was condoning violence -- Page 139 SHOULD read "Consider how you use technology. Are you using it to support and nurture your relationships with women and create community, or in ways that compromise your connections with them........" In this passage, the "OR" is missing-- and that my friend, makes a huuge difference in what we see and understand there.I tried to find out if the authors had a blog but was unsuccessful in doing so. It would be great for women to get on, exchange ideas, work through their problems.... and be kinder to one anotherAnd thank you (Erika?) for including Gay women AND Transgendered women in this book, as they have (myself included) had to put up with all kinds of outright or subtle bullying, exclusion and unfounded prejudice. We all are what we are -- we are all on our own personal life-journey -- why upset others'?

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and bought this book to assist me with understanding why women oppress one another. I read this book cover to cover in less than 2 days because I was so intrigued by the content. At times, I naturally thought of my own conduct in the world of women and realized that I too, engaged in some of the behaviors that undercut other women simply because of feeling fear and insecurity. I am much more cognizant of my own behavior now because these authors made me aware of the problem, its roots and the unnecessary consequences that only hurt all of us as women. This book is excellent for general public, mental health professionals, and parents who want to socialize their daughters in a way that does not reinforce the way women have been taught to cope, by being mean in a round-about ways. This book is a thorough and strong depiction of self-defeating female behaviors and encourages more effective ways to cope with emotions and resolve conflict. While the content is eye-opening or "sad" as one reviewer wrote, it's necessary to pay attention to for improving our interpersonal and societal status. The fact that the content is alarming is one reason why I precisely rated this book with five stars. If you find the book "sad", that does not make it an average book, it makes it an excellent book because it encourages us to call attention to the deeply embedded socialized ways of behaving and challenges us to grow and make necessary change to improve ourselves and our relationships with other women. Additionally, the book was written in reader-friendly language that makes it perfect for general public readers as well as mental health clinicians. I really believe that every woman should read this book while reflecting on her own behavior and the behaviors of the women around her. I think that every reader should pay close attention on how to be more effective at resolving conflict and promoting authentic and meaningful female relationships. Finally, I'd like to add that the content was very helpful and applicable to nurturing my personal and professional female relationships.

This book is absolutely a must-read for every woman of all ages! This book shed so much light on why women degrade, belittle, compete with and betray each other. It was an eye opening experience for me. The book, at first glance, seems to be a manual on how to deal with other women's devious tactics, but that is not the point of the book at all. Through stories and careful dissection of behaviors, interwoven with societal pressures/contributors, the authors detail what we are doing to ourselves (women vs. women) and how it is perpetuated by societal agendas/customs. This book did more to explain the issues between women than any other book I have ever read. I cannot stress enough how important this book is for EVERY woman to read for herself and to read to her daughter, her cousin, her mother, her sister, her friends...This book is not about how to survive a demon woman or a group of them, this book is about recognizing what we are doing to each other and why and how to break the cycle. I plan on buying several copies for Christmas gifts in an effort to spread the word to all of the fabulous women in my life (sisters, cousin, friends...) about how we can finally end the hurtful competitiveness and act of maliciousness towards each other (women vs. women).We finally have no excuse not to recognize how our behavior affects other women...some of the findings are absolutely shocking and quite saddening...but there is hope and we don't have to continue putting on a show for the sake of seeming like the best, the sexiest, the whatever superlative you want to insert here...Rebecca

I am in the process of reading this book. And now it makes sense and I feel better and more enlightened plus compassionate to my fellow sisters. It's true, life isn't easy but now I understand it better and know we are all in the same boat.This is a must read.

The information is worth a read. I prefer "Mean Girls Grown Up" personally. If you want a lighter read on the topic this is the one! It makes connections to celebrities etc.