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Why Girls Join Cliques

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“What is it like to be part of a clique?” asks a commoner to herself. “Do you want to sit with us?” She heard a girl said to the other. It is then followed by, “Do you have what it takes to become one of us, a Plastic?” A Plastic is a coined word from the 2004 movie “Mean Girls” wherein it is a clique composed of beautiful, wealthy, popular, and shallow girls who only care about themselves i.e., their social standing and appearance. Exclusivity and mutualism are for their personal benefit. They have a supreme leader that dictates all their actions and behavior in an environment wherein in turn, they, as a whole, set the trends of what is cool, stylish, and right in that environment. Loyalty to the clique has its perks - popularity, boys, and power. Frequently, they are the breeding grounds when a girl wants to be popular. But often, they breed mean and fake …show more content…

First, it is because of fitting in. A person will not survive if she does not fit in, particularly in contemporary times. Fitting in is a vital aspect of one's survival of their social life. They join a clique to fit into the public so that they could make many friends and avoid being bullied. That is where the second reason comes, for popularity. Most of the people today want to be popular especially the teenagers. Popularity means being the object of adoration and admiration to most of the people, but for some despisement and jealousy. According to Twenge (2006), 29% young people of the 1990's choose fame instead of contentment. Last, the third reason girls join a clique is for power. Power can be translated into good or bad, but for the Plastics, it is mostly bad. Due to their power, the Plastics have the capability to manipulate people or even destroy relationships and one's dignity. Girls want to join a clique so that they will not be stepped down or bullied by others. In addition to that, they have the power and protection of the

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416 Words | 2 Pages

In the movie Mean girls the five social interactions were all included: cooperation, social exchange, coercion, conflict, and conformity. The Conflict was between the Plastics and Cady real friends, Janice and Damion. Janice came up with the idea that Cady sit with the Plastics every day to ‘spy’ or them and see what a Plastic do on a daily basics. Slowly, Cady started to turn into them, she spoiled something Janice told her about Damion. Which was only okay for her to say.

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703 Words | 3 Pages

Greg Graffin’s Anarchy in the Tenth Grade represents the in-group theory presented by Gordon Allport. The in-group theory proposes that people belong to cliques, some by choice and others by chance, and society affects or has influences on these in-groups through equal out-groups. Mr. Graffin explains how it feels to be a new kid in a new school and how he became a punker. Mr. Graffin explains his endeavours through the in-group “punk” and also expounds on how different out-groups react to his in-group.

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1037 Words | 5 Pages

Cliques are determined based on stereotypes, if you're black, then you're with the black clique, if you're a jock, then you go and hang out with the jocks. A few of the cliques in mean girls included Asian nerds, unfriendly black hotties, jocks, preps, and burnouts. Each clique had their own language, hobbies, and symbols. Janice and Damien taught Cady about all of their different cliques and as she was observing all of them in the lunch room, she was having a hard time understanding where she belonged. Growing up around African Americans, she assumed that the African American clique would be accepting of her, but when she approached them they treated her as part of their out-group and were unwelcoming.

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2019 Words | 9 Pages

The film is based around Cady, she is the new student at the school who ends up meeting Janet and Damian. They become her first friends, however, the Plastics (Regina, Karen, and Gretchen) get her to become part of their group. The Plastics are the popular mean girls, who everyone is afraid to stand up to. Janet and Cady come up with this plan to ruin Regina’s popularity and reputation through several different ideas. Cady ends up crushing on Aaron, who is Regina’s ex causing a secret anger in Cady.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

As brand communities are based on the collective appreciation of a certain brand we could not view the Plastics as a part of this kind of community since there is no focus on a brand, rather a lifestyle. To label the Plastics as a subculture did not suit either since it is experience based and are escapist from mainstream norms which is the opposite of what the Plastics are since the High school subculture identities that are shown in Mean Girls (2004) reflect popular culture. Referring to Figure 1 in de Burgh-Woodman’s (2007) article, the subculture of consumption is comprised of the following eight

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843 Words | 4 Pages

Caty begins the movie with a real genuine friendship with Janis and Damien, two individuals who struggled with popularity because they were considered the “outside” group. However, the popular girls, infamously called the “Plastics” try to recruit Caty into their popular group, but only because she is considered one of the prettier girls in the school. The ring leader, Regina George, of the Plastics is the most popular girl in school who is really hated by alot of peers because of her horrible attitude and how she

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950 Words | 4 Pages

“The plastics” were the leading group of the school, consisting of three popular, attractive girls, Regina, the leader of the group and two other girls, Karen, and Gretchen. “The Plastics” then scouted Cady since she had been attractive, and got the attention of popular boys, in which Janis and Damien originally supported in order to manipulate and plan to destroy “the plastics” through Cady. Cady’s exploration with social psychology is shown through her being unaware of everything at her new high school; social psychology concepts that are shown throughout this storyline are implicit personality theory, norms and group schemas, gender roles. Implicit personality theory is the inference of co-occurrence of personality traits based on another personality trait. This can be shown by the halo effect, where one infers that someone is generally good based on a few RUNNING

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1459 Words | 6 Pages

The film displays these issues in order to satirize them, and therefore, certain behaviour may be exaggerated to make it more obvious for the audience. As can be seen from the Plastics’ “rules”, there is a common theme present in what the “popular” girls hold valuable. From the iconic quote of “on Wednesdays, we wear pink”, to downright odd restrictions such as “we only wear jeans or trackpants on Fridays” (Michaels & Waters, 2004), the prevalent thing these well-liked, “flawless” girls seem to be concerned about is appearance. Intelligence is undesirable and unneeded in order to stand out and rule in this teenage social hierarchy. For example, when Cady says she wants to join the Mathletes, both Regina and Damien—who have very different personalities—say that it would be “social suicide” (Michaels & Waters, 2004).

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996 Words | 4 Pages

The movie Mean Girls is a perfect example of many social-psychological principles. Three of the major principles that are seen in the film include: conformity, in-groups and out-groups and prejudice. Cady Herron, a naïve sixteen-year-old who has been homeschooled her entire life, is forced to start as a junior at North Shore High School because of her family’s job relocation. Throughout the movie, you see Cady struggling to maintain acceptance in the school’s in-group known as The Plastics. The Plastics, who represent popularity, high economic status and the acclaimed standard of beauty, are one of the meanest cliques at North Shore.

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1278 Words | 6 Pages

Middle class would be Cady before she became a “Plastic” and low class would be Damian and Janis and the rest of the school. In the eyes of “The Plastics” everyone is low class and they are the only upper class. According to Jeff Manza, author of The Sociology Pproject 2.0: introducing the sociological imagination conflict theory is “a type of social theory that emerged out of dissatisfaction with structural functionalism and held that all societies are characterized by conflicts that arise from the uneven distribution of power and wealth between groups” (Manza, 2016). Bullies are not always at the top of the class chain but they often feel the need to put other lower them. Bullies often feel stronger and tougher when they are on top

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1129 Words | 5 Pages

In a perfect society that would be true. However, there is a lot of pressure to fit in and have a numerous amount of friends. In order to do this, sometimes people change the way the dress, talk, and act to match the tacit codes of their friends. I believe that uniqueness is a great quality but that is not to say that people aren 't willing to give up this quality of being unique in order to gain popularity. For example, in the movie “Mean Girls” when Katy is first introduced to the popular girls at the school she is told that on Wednesday she must wear pink in order to sit at their table.

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1398 Words | 6 Pages

The two compiled a map of North Shore High and how Cady will survive it. A big part of the map was the cafeteria and where all the different cliques sat. Cady was warned about a certain clique called “the Plastics”, she was told they are the worst people she would ever meet. The Plastics are the popular clique at Cady’s new

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1006 Words | 5 Pages

From rock climbing club to chemistry club, most colleges offer it all. Colleges would claim that the purpose of these groups is to give students the chance to try new things and to meet new people. This exposes students to new cultures, religions, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, all while broadening their social networks. I would argue that the plethora of organizations actually adds segregation to college campuses. According to Boyd, people, “look for ‘safe spaces’ and ‘culture fit.’

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Some peer groups can be good and some can be bad. The peer group that I was a part of in high school was bad. In high school I was always a little different and did not have many fiends because the clique or peer group in my high school used the Social Typing which is a “labeling process that begins when a person violates a norm. Negate sanctions are applied to norm violates in the form of criticisms, punishments, and/or labels.” They labeled me as a “dorky weird girl.”

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