Women have been the emotionalsocial arbiters of western society for eons. Women have always been expected to influence and curb poor behavior in children, and their spouses behind closed doors, until recently.
A bombshell movie, "Mean Girls," exposed the mean girls that populate middle school and high school campuses across the nation, but little attention has been directed towards grown-up mean girls.
The book was written to identify the mean women in our lives and how they negatively affect other women as adults. Today, mean women are glorified in print, in ongoing cable tv shows, in movies and far too many young women dream about becoming an out-of control, often rich mean woman.
Many women's lives cross the path of certified mean women and most of us try to find ways to avoid being in direct contact with these women. But when these women are involved in areas of our lives that affect our children, the PTA, Soccer Mom's, our bosses, volunteers, et al, then it's time to unmask these darlings and to find ways to cope with their emotional poisoned slings.
It is not enough to identify these women and characterize them as simply insecure. Not all mean girls/women are insecure. Many have an agenda to emotionally destabilize and harm other women while gloating.