mean girls

Why is it that we women always seem to have to have another woman on the outs? It's true. Somebody is always the latest casualty. Somebody is always the latest one to screw up and do something that makes the other women mad, causing us to gang together and validate each others feelings of ill will. It's so bizarre. And it can be something so insignificant that you do wrong, like gain some weight for example. Or lose some weight. Any major fluctuation in weight in either direction is definitely cause for some cattiness, and rumor mongering amongst the rest of the women in that woman's social circle. Don't deny it ladies, you know it's true! But why do we do it? We start doing it when we are little girls, and for some reason we keep right on doing it, right up till we're senile old biddies in the nursing home - it's probably even worse then, I mean just imagine, there are virtually no old men left by then, so it's a whack of old ladies all thrown together and forced to spent all their waking hours side by side, my god I'll bet it's vicious times in those places..."that Mabel thinks she's pretty hot s#@**! since she got that hip replacement...and doesn't Ethel know that shade of blue hair is so last year??"
And it's not like most of us haven't at one time or another been the woman on the hit list. So you would think that we would learn a lesson about being supportive and kind after that, not wanting anyone else to have to go through being odd woman out, but no, we jump right back on that bandwagon of ladies ferociously relieved to be accepted once more, and desperate not to be pushed back off.
There are very few exceptions. I know a few pretty kind and saintly women, but even they enjoy a good giggle at someone else's expense now and then. So what is it? Some genetic trait that is part of our inner ability to survive? What purpose does it actually serve? I mean, what if we didn't do that, what if we acted like men who just don't really care that Joe looks like he had plastic surgery, or that Sam flirted with Sally, or that Jim passed off my coleslaw recipe as his own? Because they really don't care. So why do we? Is it some primal need that we have, part of a kill or be killed mentality from our cavewoman days gone by? It horrifies me to think that this is a carry over from some ancient need to compete for a mate thing, I mean really, could we still be that ruled by biology? And if so, shouldn't it stop by the time we have mates, children, and all the rest of it? Or is it learned behavior by then, so that even though it's not necessary anymore in terms of evolution, reproduction or whatever, it's all we know so we just can't help ourselves?
Whatever it is, it's real, and it's out there. Even when we know better, and that we should take the high road and not participate, inevitably there are times when we lapse in what should be better judgement and join in. I hear things all the time about women supporting women organizations and such, which is great, but why do we even need them in the first place?? That is my quandary.
As the mother of three young girls, I would love to solve this mystery, because without understanding the "why" behind women act the way they do, I am at a loss as to how to ultimately teach them not to follow in our footsteps. I think that would be a revolution indeed, in female evolution.
On the other hand, maybe life would just become super boring without all the drama that female feuding causes. The Real Housewives series empire would be duller than dirt, that's for sure. I don't have the answer, but I will keep looking. Whether I will choose to share it with the rest of you bitches is another thing....