Girly Girls

I was told recently by a friend of mine that I am one of the most girly girls she knows. I'm not sure whether to be offended or flattered, surprised or not.

Let me clarify what I mean by "girly girl". She is the sort of girl who wears fashionable clothes, has an expensive wallet, spends too much time wondering if she appears pretty and cool without having to try to be pretty and cool. Most important of all -she hangs out with other girls just like her. When in a group, they talk and laugh in a way that makes you feel a little uncomfortable, making you wonder if they are secretly laughing at you. It is virtually impossible to know for sure (in their defence, until you get to know them better) whether they genuinely like you or are only being nice to your face. I'm fairly certain at least one such girl will have popped into your mind by now and you know the type of girl I am talking about.

So, back to the story I was about to tell you. I can certainly see why some would consider me to be a girly girl, but I have never considered myself one because I am always intimidated by them. The fact that I feel intimidated by girly girls makes me think that I am not one, or worse, that I am a wannabe. Surely a genuine girly girl wouldn't be scared by other girly girls?

But it occurred to me that I had over-simplified my analysis. In the case of a girly girl, confidence comes through safety in numbers. A girly girl on her own can be excluded or outcast on the grounds that she is too arrogant, snobby or bratty. A girly girl requires a posse to be girly - that is, a group of girls, each as girly as the others within the group. It is always possible for a new girl to join the group. All it takes for her to join, and thus obtain the security of being part of the group, is to show that she is as girly as the rest of them.

I recently had the perfect opportunity to test this theory out. There were two girly girls who it was important for me to get on (or "in") with. To "out girly" the girly girls would take courage and cunning, but I took inspiration from my friend's comment that I was one of the girliest girls she knew. I believed I was up to the task.

So for the next few days, I behaved exactly as a girly girl should...and more. I giggled, I rolled my eyes, I used facial expressions excessively, and drew people in when telling them things as though I were sharing a delightful secret. I reacted with wide eyes and gasps, bright smiles, a disapproving shake of the head, or a simple shrug as appropriate.

Would you believe it, it actually worked! In a mere week, I had successfully worked my way in and was fast being accepted as one of the girly girls.

So perhaps I am a girly girl after all. But hopefully, as my friend tactfully added, "in a good way".