bully for them

I’m feeling mighty puny today so I might not bedazzle you with my insights but I’ll do my best.

I’m generally a fan of Jezebel, a snarky site that takes on the news, media and celebrity through feminist eyes. Granted, their posts add up too quickly for me to keep up with—they’re the kudzu in my Google Reader—but I try to skim it every few days.

I was waaaaaay turned off, however, by this post, about kicking commentators off the list—they call it “Commenter Executions”. You have to be approved to post comments on Jezebel and according to the FAQ, you can be given the guillotine if your comments are, “excessively self-promotional, obnoxious, or even worse, boring.”

Wow, doesn’t this slip neatly into the Queen Bees stereotype of popular girls? It’s not enough that the arbiters of snark must boot those who don’t live up to their expectations. The executions must also be public and gleeful. Yuck.

Researchers into popularity, like my friend Lara, might call this social aggression and in its schoolgirl form (perhaps later in life, too, though I don’t think researchers have gotten there yet) it can be as damaging as wedgies and getting beaten up for your lunch money. Bullies is bullies, with fists or words. Or rolling eyes, or exclusion, or rumor mongering. Bullying takes many forms and it’s ugly in all of them.

Actually, if you perused my recent MySpace squabble you witnessed a beautiful example of social aggression/bullying. After all, who else but a bully would boast about mocking people who are weak?

I’m trying to continue enjoying Jezebel but don’t know if I can. I have no respect for bullies.