“I think women like to read about murderous mothers and lost little girls because it’s our only mainstream outlet to even begin discussing female violence on a personal level. Female violence is a specific brand of ferocity. It’s invasive. A girlfight is all teeth and hair, spit and nails — a much more fearsome thing to watch than two dudes clobbering each other. And the mental violence is positively gory. Women entwine. Some of the most disturbing, sick relationships I’ve witnessed are between long-time friends, and especially mothers and daughters. Innuendo, backspin, false encouragement, punishing withdrawal, sexual jealousy, garden-variety jealousy — watching women go to work on each other is a horrific bit of pageantry that can stretch on for years. Libraries are filled with stories on generations of brutal men, trapped in a cycle of aggression. I wanted to write about the violence of women. […] I particularly mourn the lack of female villains — good, potent female villains…I’m talking violent, wicked women. Scary women. Don’t tell me you don’t know some. The point is, women have spent so many years girl-powering ourselves — to the point of almost parodic encouragement — we’ve left no room to acknowledge our dark side. Dark sides are important. They should be nurtured like nasty black orchids.”
— Gillian Flynn, “I Was Not a Nice Little Girl”
I remember my high school drama teacher telling my class that she was never afraid of breaking up fights between male students, it was the fights between female students that were *truly* frightening.
Dark sides are important. They should be nurtured like nasty black orchids.
This is a messed up statement. They should not be nurtured.
Dark sides should be recognized, understood, and then chained and controlled. To the extent possible, they should be purged and severely punished whenever they rear their heads. Threatened with life-long consequences as a control mechanism. Something on par with the damage that unrestrained dark sides can do.
As written, that quote makes it sound like the author was worshipping their own dark side as something holy. Something to be encouraged and magnified.
The female dark side has been unacknowledged for long enough. It’s grown unchecked for generations. It, and it’s effects, are threatening to destroy western civilization if nothing is done about it.
The part in the quote talking about all those generations of women being girl-powered into almost parodic encouragement doesn’t seem like a joke. Many women literally worship themselves, or parts of their anatomy. The damage they’ve done to their current or former husbands, boyfriends, or male friends. It’s legitimately disturbing to start connecting the dots on this stuff.
Human beings have dark sides. These dark sides must be controlled, limited, or at best channeled into positive pursuits. If they are not dealt with in some way, then they will consume everyone.