Queen bee (sociology)
A queen bee is the leader of a female group, such as a clique. The term has been applied in several social settings.
Businesses
In a business environment, "queen bee" may refer to a woman in upper management who advanced in the ranks without any help of any type of affirmative action programs. Many of those executive women tend to be politically conservative and they choose not to publicly identify with feminism. They often see other, usually younger, women as competitors and will refuse to help them advance within a company, preferring to mentor a male over a female employee. Some such "queen bees" may actively take steps to hinder another woman's advancement as they are seen as direct competitors.[1] Such tactics are sometimes referred to as heterophily (in the sense of positive preference and favoritism for opposite-sex colleagues) or the queen bee syndrome.[2]
The term "loophole woman", coined by Caroline Bird in her book Born Female: The High Cost of Keeping Women Down (1968), has a similar meaning. Marie Mullaney defines the loophole woman as one who, "successful in a predominantly male field like law, business or medicine, is opposed to other women's attaining similar levels of success. Such success, if attained by women on a large scale, would detract from, if not substantially reduce, her own status and importance."[3] (The term "honorary male" is related, but does not imply opposition to other women's success).
Schools
A queen bee in a school setting is sometimes referred to as a school diva or school princess. These queen bees are often stereotyped in the media as being beautiful, charismatic, manipulative, and wealthy, holding positions of high social status, such as being head cheerleader (or being the captain of some other, usually an all-girl, sports team), the Homecoming or Prom Queen (or both).[4] The phenomenon of queen bees is common in finishing schools.[5]
Queen bees may wield substantial influence and power over their cliques, and are considered role models by clique members and outsiders. Her actions are closely followed and imitated.[6] Sussana Stern identifies the following qualities as characteristic of queen bees:[7]
- Having an overly-heightened self-esteem, which may lead to arrogance
- Being overly-aggressive, selfish, manipulative and confident
- Behaving as a bully or sociopath
- Being wealthy and/or "spoiled"
- Being pretty, popular, talented, wealthy, or privileged
- Being envied/hated/admired by peers (mainly female peers)
Fictional portrayals of queen bees in schools include the films Heathers and Mean Girls. The latter was partially adapted from the nonfiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes. The television series Gossip Girl is highlighted for its portrayal of Blair Waldorf as a queen bee, as she has a league of minions for friends and is frequently referred as 'Queen B' by her peers. Another television series Pretty Little Liars is also highlighted for its portrayal of Alison DiLaurentis as queen bee, as she has a clique, seems to be bossy and mean to people who are not her friends, and everyone treats her as a Queen. She is sometimes referred as 'Queen Ali'. Quinn Fabray from Glee is also described as "queen bee" due to her being rich, popular, beautiful and head cheerleader.
The stereotype on queen bees has also become a stock character.
Fictional queen bees
- Lucy "Tom-Tom" Wyman (young) from 13 Going on 30
- Skye Hamilton, Allie A. Abott, Charlie Deery, and Shira Brazille from Alphas (book series)
- Bianca Blackwell from Backstage
- Lisa Silver from American Dad!
- Lexi Reed from A.N.T. Farm
- Muffy Crosswire from Arthur
- Courtney Gripling and Miranda Killgallen from As Told by Ginger
- Penelope Lang from Atomic Betty
- Naomi Clark from 90210
- Cokie Mason from The Babysitters Club
- Nina Harper from Braceface
- Meredith Baxter-Dimly from Bratz
- Burdine Maxwell and the Tweevils (Kirstee & Kaycee) from Bratz (TV series)
- Cordelia Chase from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Tess Tyler from Camp Rock
- Chris Hargensen from Carrie
- Fiona and her daughters Brianna & Gabriella and Shelby Cummings from A Cinderella Story
- Massie Block from The Clique series
- Cher Horowitz from Clueless
- Sissi Delmas from Code Lyoko and Code Lyoko: Evolution
- Paulina Sanchez from Danny Phantom
- Sandi Griffin from Daria
- Coco Connors from Dear White People
- Beebe Bluff from Doug and Disney's Doug
- Mindy Crenshaw and Megan Parker from Drake and Josh
- Maddie Van Pelt from Every Witch Way
- Blair Warner from The Facts of Life
- Connie D'Amico from Family Guy
- Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez from Glee
- Blair Waldorf Serena van der Woodsen and Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl
- Pacifica Northwest from Gravity Falls
- Betty Rizzo from the film Grease
- Mindy from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
- Paige Logan from Grossology
- Carla Cabrera from Growing Up Creepie
- Amber Addison and Ashley Dewitt from Hannah Montana
- Heather Chandler and Heather Duke from Heathers
- Amber Von Tussle from Hairspray
- Rhonda Wellington Lloyd from Hey Arnold!
- Sharpey Evans from High School Musical
- Aphrodite LaFonte from House of Night
- Jennifer Check from Jennifer's Body
- Cindy Mancini from Can't Buy Me Love
- Bonnie Rockwaller from Kim Possible
- Melissa O'Malley from The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
- Mertle Edmonds from the Lilo and Stitch universe
- Brittany Boviak from Lloyd in Space
- Joan Holloway from Mad Men
- Regina George and Cady Heron from Mean Girls
- Portia Gibbons from The Mighty B!
- Chloé Bourgeois from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir
- Angela Smith from Mona the Vampire
- Cleo de Nile from Monster High
- The Crust Cousins (Brit and Tiff) from My Life as a Teenage Robot
- Cynthia Payne from The Mysteries of Alfred Hedgehog
- Missy Meanie from Ned's Disclassified School Survivor Guid
- Saphira from Pearlie
- Brooke McQueen from Popular
- Princess Morbucks from The Powerpuff Girls
- Alison DiLaurentis , Hanna Marin, and Mona Vanderwaal from Pretty Little Liars
- LaCienega Boulevardez from The Proud Family
- Ring-Ring from Pucca
- Sierra McCool from The Replacements
- Cheryl Blossom and Veronica Lodge from Riverdale
- Christy Masters from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
- Cassandra from Sabrina's Secret Life
- Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell
- Chanel Oberlin from Scream Queens
- Ashley from Seventeen Again
- Effy Stonem, Katie Fitch, and Mini McGuinness from Skins
- Amanda Jones from Some Kind of Wonderful
- Kelly from Stoked
- Dalia Royce from Suburgatory
- London Tipton from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and The Suite Life on Deck
- Alana Rivera and Bianca from That's So Raven
- Natasha Cummings from Tormented
- Heather, Courtney, Jo, Sugar, Amy, and Taylor from the Total Drama franchise.
- Gigi Hollingsworth from Wizards of Waverly Place
- Farrah Cutney from Youth & Consequences
- Stephanie Kaye, Kathleen Mead, Paige Michalchuk, Hazel Aden, Heather Sinclair, Darcy Edwards, Holly J. Sinclair, Marisol Lewis, and Zoë Rivas from Degrassi
- Trixie Tang from The Fairly Odd Parents
- The Ashleys, a group of four girls (Ashley Armbruster, Boulet, Quinlan, and Tomassian) from Recess (TV series)
- Miriam Kent from H2O: Mermaid Adevntures
- Brittany from Gnome Alone
References
- "Article". Timesonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2014-02-23.(subscription required)
- Cooper, Virginia W. (1997). "Homophily or the Queen Bee Syndrome: Female Evaluation of Female Leadership". Small Group Research. Sage Publications. 28 (4): 483–499. doi:10.1177/1046496497284001.
- Mullaney, Marie (1984). "Gender and the Socialist Revolutionary Role". Historical Reflections. 11 (2): 147. JSTOR 41298827.
- Tracy, K. (2003) The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World. Macmillan. p 37.
- Raines, J.M. (2003) Beautylicious!: The Black Girl's Guide to the Fabulous Life. Harlem Moon Publishers. p 13.
- Wiseman, Rosalind (9 December 2011). "Girls' Cliques: What Role Does Your Daughter Play?". iVillage. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- Stern, Sussana (2001) Sexual Selves on the World Wide Web: Adolescent Girls' Home Pages as Sites for Sexual Self-Expression; Sexual Teens, Sexual Media, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Further reading
- Dickinson, Amy (13 May 2002). "Taming the Teen Queen Bee". Time. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- Shearin Karres, Erika V. (2004). Mean Chicks, Cliques, And Dirty Tricks: A Real Girl's Guide to Getting Through the Day with Smarts and Style. Avon, MA: Adams Media. ISBN 1580629334.
- Simmons, Rachel (2002). Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls. New York: Harcourt. ISBN 0151006040.
- Wiseman, Rosalind (2002). Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence. New York: Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0609609459.