When Rosalind Wiseman wrote the book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World , she missed a whole world of ‘mean girl population. Mean girls exist in schools, workplaces, and in the PTA. Mean girls are everywhere and all ages.
What is a mean girl? The Urban dictionary describes them as “Girls who are bullies and use ‘girl aggression’ (nasty comments, trickery, deceit, excluding people from events, spreading rumors, stealing boyfriends,etc.) to manipulate other girls”
A mean girl is Pallas Athena gone wrong.
Pallas in astrology is the asteroid representing feminine wisdom and justice. She represents creative intelligence and is good at seeing patterns. As the goddess of war and the protectress of the state, Pallas types will fight for and defend political causes. There is no doubt about it, a Pallas woman is powerful.
In Greek mythology there are many stories that tell of her nature, but here are just a few that highlight her potential for being a ‘mean girl’.
Pallas Athene
First of all, Athene is also called Pallas Athene. The two are recognized as the same. This is because in a “friendly” (or was it?) fight between the two goddesses Pallas was killed by Athena, and out of sadness and in rememberance of Pallas, Athene took Pallas’ name.
Competition for men’s attention.
The Goddess Medusa was very beautiful goddess and pursued by many men. One day she was in Pallas Athena’s temple and overtaken by one man in particular, Medusa was violated becoming pregnant and gaving birth to twins. The mean girl came out in Athene! Jealous and blaming, Athene turned Medusa’s hair into snakes causing her looks to turn men into stone if they glanced at her.
Trickery
Athena was known for her skills with weaving and the loom. A woman from a village named Arachne was also good at the loom. She became very well known for her skill and claimed that it was a gift she was born with and not learned. When Athena heard this fist she disguised herself as an old woman to get the ‘real dirt’ out of Arachne regarding where she learned the loom. When she got nothing, Athena then challenged her to a public contest to let all see who was best. When Arachne showed Athena up in the competition Athena turned Arachne into a spider.
Undermining
Finally there was a trial of Orestes. Orestes was accused of matricide. Athena, who was presiding over the matter, declared that he was not guilty because there was no sanctity of a blood relationship with a mother and child (it was a crime only to kill blood relations in those days). Athena reasoned that because she was not born of a mother (she sprang from the head of Zeus), that men not women were the rightful owner’s of the child. In so doing she undermined all women and declared male supremacy.