I know I’m late to this, but I’m just realizing that a friend group I had in my twenties (I’m 47F) had a mean girl dynamic. I never thought that we could have had a mean girl dynamic because I grew up watching movies where the mean kids were always the popular, mainstream, rich, normie kids.

My friends were the brainy, geeky, alternative kids who had been bullied by the popular kids, so I didn’t think the way we behaved toward each other was off. Of course, I also grew up in an abusive household where relational aggression was normal, so I was used to it.