Mean Girls in Young Adult Literature

Abstract

While YA novels span a variety of topics, one of the most popular genres features a “mean girl” character. Mean girls are presented as the character that everyone loves to hate. As easy as it is to read mean girls as snobby and spiteful, the characters are also strong leaders and generally intelligent. The fact that readers are conditioned to hate the mean girl stems from our current patriarchal culture. The mean girl uses traditionally male tactics to obtain power in a patriarchal culture that does not value her, and therefore that culture argues that she is worthy of hatred. The characters we encounter, and especially the ones we enjoy or identify with, leave a mark on our individual understanding of the world. YA authors often use mean girls to subtly encourage patriarchal values in their actions and descriptions. Therefore, understanding the mean girl allows us to understand the roles that women grow into in Western patriarchal culture.