Cleaning house, then a real post

Hi everyone! Thanks for your patience and continued visits to my blog as I've been a little behind on posting recently. Between the move, getting increasingly busy at work, and my youngest brother's graduation from high school (and related family commitments) things have been INSANE for me. But I'm officially back with the promise to do a better job moving forward!

Here are some general notes:

1) For those reading The Five People You Meet In Heaven as part of the virtual book club, I've posted a brief synopsis and some starter discussion questions on the site and will update it a couple of times throughout the coming week. I hope you all enjoyed the book (which wasn't so much about religion or heaven as it was about learning and recognizing the importance of the lessons your life can teach you).

2) Following is a post that I've been working on for a while. I'm excited to get your feedback.

So without further ado, I bring to you:

The Anatomy Of A Mean Girl
(Parenthetical subtitle: Decoding Bitchy Girl Behavior, Part I)

Lindsay Lohan is living every high school girl's worst nightmare right now. Taking a page from LiLo's own "Mean Girls" movie, Paris and Brandon proved that, even in adulthood, the "cool" kids are still catty.

I'm not sure if you saw this story a few weeks ago or not. While out on the Tinseltown, Brandon - backed by BFF Paris - berated Lindsay in front of the assembled paparazzi. He disdainfully referred to Lindsay's genitalia ("fire crotch" is one of the more PG-13 terms he used); her "bomb" of a movie "Just My Luck" and her "pathetic" $7 mil-per-picture salary. Paris giggled and whispered in Brandon's ear during his tirade, seemingly egging him on.

This is interesting on a few notes, not the least of which are the facts that:
a) Brandon Davis (yes, I know, who?!) and Paris Hilton are only famous because of who their fathers are and the fact that they party 7 days a week. They aren't famous because of their contributions to society, their accomplishments or by virtue of their own merits.
b) I'm not sure if Brandon Davis has ever been in a film, but I'm pretty sure Paris' own "House of Wax" wasn't exactly a box office smash hit. Oh wait, she did have the straight-to-video "One Night In Paris" courtesy of her exboyfriend. I heard that did pretty well at the video story. Kudos, Ms. Hilton.
c) Bradon's assertion that Lindsay's salary per movie basically makes her poor is living off his oil tycoon father's dime. If Daddy were to cut him off, I wonder what his net worth would tally in at, given that his personal source of income seems to be limited to appearances at parties. As for Paris, she at least has a perfume and line of dog accessories.

Regardless of a lack of reason (other than stunted maturity and poor, spoiled upbringing), these two mean girls fulfill for Lindsay Lohan what every teenage girl dreads: Picked on, cast out from the clique, talked about in the bathroom and snickered at in the lunch line. As Paris and Brandon proved, the insecurities that teenage girls feel can often follow you into adulthood as well.

But why?

I have been thinking about this phenomenon a lot lately... why some women need to attack other women in order to assert their own authority. Is this because they truly are "better" than the other girl (and if so, who or what makes that distinction)? Or is it something else? My guy friends have often asked why we, as women, behave the way we do. Most of the time, we girls are just as confused as you men are.

So over the next few days, I will post my various theories on this behavior, with the disclaimer that I'm not a professional and have no evidence to support my claims other than what I've experienced in my own life. Feel free to weigh in with your own theories or call me out on mine as needed.