Do colleges have mean girls?

[Trionyx]

I just saw this thread for the first time and had to laugh. Several days ago I started a story with ‘mean girls’ at a college sorority. What a coincidence!

 

[stonedinstilletos]

The school I went to had a couple of cliques of mean girls that sort of had their own turf. The ones from the sorority (we only had 1, it was a small school) I hated for what they did to a friend of mine. They put her through the entire litany of humiliations for pledging the sorority even though they had all agreed to not let her become a member at the end of it. They just wanted to torture her.

 

[YDB95]

In my experience they're not as dominant in college as in high school, but they do still exist.

 

[AchtungNight]

The school I went to had a couple of cliques of mean girls that sort of had their own turf. The ones from the sorority (we only had 1, it was a small school) I hated for what they did to a friend of mine. They put her through the entire litany of humiliations for pledging the sorority even though they had all agreed to not let her become a member at the end of it. They just wanted to torture her.

Frats have done this sort of thing also, according to people I’ve known. Honestly it’s the worst sort of behavior. Why not just tell them from the beginning they’re wasting their time and effort? Oh yeah, because then malignant narcissists wouldn’t get their fix. Grr. These people need therapy.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Hey, everyone! I'm a fairly new author on Literotica. I don't even feel like I should be calling myself an author yet since I'm still so new at all this, but I have now encountered the first pinch in my writing process.

I want to write a story with mean girls, you know? They're kind of like my guilty pleasure, and I watched Heathers for the first time the other day so I'm feeling super inspired. But I don't feel comfortable writing an erotic story that takes place in a high school, even if I make all the characters over 18, I just don't want to do that. So I decided to make the story take place in a college instead!

The thing is, I wasn't born and raised in the US. When I got here, I had already fully graduated from college. So, I have no idea if colleges in the US have mean girls because where I come from, colleges don't really have bullying problems; only high schools have these. I watched Legally Blonde, but I don't think that's the best reference. So, I would like to ask you guys for help.

Do colleges have mean girls? And if they do, are they usually part of one of those sororities or something?

I appreciate all the help I can get!

In my college, girls usually formed their own circles and, I may be biased when I say this, their 'bullying' is not over-the-top obvious or in-your-face like the movies. It's very subtle and discreet. Girls never reveal that their own roommates/seniors have been bullying them. I knew about it when I overheard them talking about it or when someone has a case of loose tongue.

It's good to know the details or have experience with a subject, but it's usually exaggerated in media for entertainment. No one wants to read how Susan got good grades because she was ignored by her friend for several months. That is a boring story.

Mean Girls was entertaining because it was over-the-top satire and comedy of school cliques. It wasn't realism that sold the story. It was simply entertaining.

My 2 cents: Write what you want. Take reference, yes, but use them as guidelines and not 'rules' you must adhere to.

Most importantly, enjoy the process.

 

[eric_erosfan]

Mean girls always exist at every age. Their methods just change as they age. They become more subtle and sneaky, but it is still there under the surface.

 

[MrPixel]

If by a mean girl you mean someone who is widely acknowledged as socially dominant and who enforces that dominance via relational violence (humiliation, ostracization, etc.), then no, the colleges I know in the US are too big for that. There are many overlapping social circles and the queen bee of one may be entirely unknown in another.

The two ways I can think to tell a mean girl story in an American college are

1. make it a very small, isolated college where everyone knows everyone
2. limit the scope of the mean girl's power, e.g., make her the mean girl of a sorority or a club

That sums it up. I’ve been a student at four colleges throughout my life, two 4-year and two 2-year, and briefly taught at a 2-year. College students don’t have the time or consistent enough schedules to form the packs where bullies prosper.

I will confirm the “small, isolated” thing, however. I spent one year at a very small engineering school - 435 students, to be exact - and given that it was not a commuter school, we more or less lived with each other 24/7. Cliques formed, and there were identifiable group leaders, some benevolent (“I don’t give a shit if you’re 18, have a beer!"), some not.

The group dynamic was that of a big fraternity. The campus was a cluster of small private colleges, so I can imagine that the women’s school across the street was similar in nature. But I wouldn’t know, we had few opportunities to socialize, and they didn’t hang with us nerds, anyway.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

The school I went to had a couple of cliques of mean girls that sort of had their own turf. The ones from the sorority (we only had 1, it was a small school) I hated for what they did to a friend of mine. They put her through the entire litany of humiliations for pledging the sorority even though they had all agreed to not let her become a member at the end of it. They just wanted to torture her.

You have to have someone to kick to the curb to maintain the aura of exclusivity. And some people have to go through the pledge process and not be selected in order to maintain the facade that the pledge process means something instead of just being a hazing ritual.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

https://www.nbcsports.com/college-f...-probe-found-sexual-hazing-illegal-substances

Here's a good, and rather prominent example of college "Mean Girl" style behavior, and it gets you away from the Sorority stereotypes.

 

[JadedVue]

Hey, everyone! I'm a fairly new author on Literotica. I don't even feel like I should be calling myself an author yet since I'm still so new at all this, but I have now encountered the first pinch in my writing process.

I want to write a story with mean girls, you know? They're kind of like my guilty pleasure, and I watched Heathers for the first time the other day so I'm feeling super inspired. But I don't feel comfortable writing an erotic story that takes place in a high school, even if I make all the characters over 18, I just don't want to do that. So I decided to make the story take place in a college instead!

The thing is, I wasn't born and raised in the US. When I got here, I had already fully graduated from college. So, I have no idea if colleges in the US have mean girls because where I come from, colleges don't really have bullying problems; only high schools have these. I watched Legally Blonde, but I don't think that's the best reference. So, I would like to ask you guys for help.

Do colleges have mean girls? And if they do, are they usually part of one of those sororities or something?

I appreciate all the help I can get!

yes there are definitely mean girls in college. petty girls, jealous girls, conceited girls, rich girls, etc. they are interspersed with all of the "normal" girls and can be hellacious bitches at some times.

 

[tenyari]

I've always felt this, and the whole thing of different cliques like the jocks, nerds, etc was more of a TV trope than reality. I never saw any of that stuff growing up.

I did see people have their own groups based on all sorts of reasons, but it never fit any of these tropes.

So to me, it's all a complete fiction anyway - so use it or don't as you please in writing.

 

[intim8]

I don't even feel like I should be calling myself an author yet since I'm still so new at all this,

I've posted 15 stories here, and about that number in other places, and I still have my doubts.

But if you write, you're a writer. If you've published anywhere, you're an author. Trust me, you'll be much better off if you plow ahead like you know what you're doing. Then maybe someday, you actually will. I'm still working on it.

I watched Heathers for the first time the other day

I bet there's thousands of stories here inspired by that movie. I don't say that to discourage you, it shouldn't, just noting that it was that good of a movie.

I have no idea if colleges in the US have mean girls

When you write, you're the God of the people and places you create. If your fictional college has mean girls, than it has them. Full stop. But yes, my impression is that sorority girls can often take the mean girls idea up a bunch of notches.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

If you feel uncomfortable calling yourself an author, try "writer". It's the same, but it sounds less lofty.

I personally view myself as an aspiring scribbler.

Welcome, MissR!