Girl-on-girl action: Why we get into b*tch fights with other girls
I don't watch Jackie Warner'sWork Out regularly (but I admit, there's something appealing about her, in a bi-curious yeah-I'd-hit-that kind of way) so I totally missed the huge controversy surrounding last week's episode. It seems that Warner was snarking with her assistant about one of their trainer's client's fake boobs. Drama ensued when the client's boyfriend overheard them and explained that his girlfriend was a breast cancer survivor and had implants as part of her reconstructive surgery. FACE! This somehow led to Jackie firing the trainer in question. So, not only was the client, famous fitness model Jamie Eason, getting hated on because she had implants due to cancer, now she's got to either find a new trainer or switch gyms? Sucks to be Jamie Eason.
And it also sucks to be Bravo, who is being pummeled by emails from angry viewers who vow to cease watching the channel (what, no Runway?) and also, to boycott the advertisers' products. And it's worked: Gatorade has ended its relationship with the show. Ooooh. Harsh.
Ladies, I love a good drama escalation as much as anyone else, but what's really at the heart here? Someone got called out for being a mean girl. It's delicious and irresistible, but I really wonder if some of the titillation isn't because it's girl-on-girl action? I mean, nothing turns heads like a catfight, right? In fact, to this day, one of the most surreal things I've ever witnessed was a fight between two girls in a karaoke bar (one was screaming that she was going to pop the other's silicon implants) while the guy up on stage continued to sing the most beautiful rendition of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." It was like I had stepped wholesale into a David Lynch movie.
The truth of the matter is that girls get angry at girls, just like guys get angry at guys. The difference here is that it's societally acceptable for men to express their anger and rage, whereas a feminine ideal requires you to maintain control at all times, leaving us with passive-aggressive, partially effective little outlets like bitchfests and gossip. And like too many rats in a cage, we'll bite the girl next to us rather than questioning why we're trapped in the first place.
Would it be weird to suggest that many of our body image problems stem from the fact that we have to suck up everything that is unfair, everything that is unjust, just suck it up and take it? It's unladylike to question authority, to make a fuss, to voice demands or be impolite. So instead, we become our own worst enemy, transferring those emotions to a safe outlet. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would have to applaud whomever came up with the strategy. After all, women outnumber the men on this planet, but if we're distracted with worrying about the size of our thighs (or whether that girl over there has an unfair advantage due to her unnatural breasts) then we'll never have time to focus on the true injustices in our lives. Huh. What's a girl to do?
The comments want to know if breast implants make you angry.
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