Hidden Agression In Women

4 Pages 1081 Words

According to Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Odd, “There is a hidden culture of girls’ aggression in which bullying is epidemic, distinctive, and destructive” (Simmons 2000). When boys bully each other it is done with violence and physical acts. They tend to attack strangers or acquaintances (Simmons 2002). Girls attack within tightly knit networks of friends. This aggression is harder for teachers and parents to identify and increases the damage to the victims.
Rachel Simmons says, ”Behind a façade of female intimacy lies a terrain traveled in secret, marked with anguish, and nourished by silence”(Simmons 2002). Everyday many girls are being threatened and tormented by girls they thought were their friends. Many of the stories I read came from girls who were bullied by their best friends. When a teacher thinks of a bully she thinks of a boy. When a girl says she is being bullied the teacher just says it is girls being girls and acting catty. “Studies have established that approximately 15 percent of students are either bullied regularly or are iniators of bullying behavior (Olweus, 1993). Direct bullying seems to increase through the elementary school years, and decline during the high school years. Also school size, racial composition, and school setting do not seem to be distinguishing factors in predicting the occurrence of bullying.
Research shows that students who engage in bullying behaviors seem to have a need to feel powerful and in control. They often defend their actions by saying that their victims provoked them in some way. Bullies often come from homes in which physical punishment is used, children are taught to strike out physically as a way to handle problems and parental involvement are usually lacking. Some characteristics of bullies victimize others because they feel bad about themselves.
Victims of bullies are usually anxious, insecure, and have low self-esteem. They won’t usually defend thems...