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A queen bee is a woman who dominates or leads a group,[1] is in a favoured position[2] or behaves as such.[3] The term has been applied in several social settings.
Businesses
In a business environment, queen bee may refer to women who are emotionally immature and view other, especially younger, women as competition. They often will refuse to help other women advance within a company by, for example, preferring to mentor a male over a female employee. Some may actively take steps to hinder another woman's advancement as they are seen as direct competitors.[4] 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.[5]
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."[6]
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.[9] Sussana Stern identifies the following qualities as characteristic of queen bees:[10]
Being envied/feared/admired by
peers (mainly female peers)
Examples in film
Regina George in the 2004 film Mean Girls, played by
Rachel McAdams. The wealthy, beautiful, and popular queen bee of Northshore High school, rules over the Plastics, an exclusive clique of wealthy and beautiful girls.
Courtney Shayne in the 1999 film Jawbreaker, played by
Rose McGowan. The sociopathic Courtney murders her rival at the beginning of the film, and goes to extreme lengths to cover up the murder and maintain her popularity by tarnishing the reputation of her victim.
Marianne Bryant in the 2010 film Easy A, played by
Amanda Bynes. A hypocritical, domineering and judgemental
Christian fundamentalist girl who uses her faith to unfairly pass judgement and inflict her beliefs on others.
Chris Hargensen in the 1974
Stephen King novel Carrie and its various film adaptations. Chris is a wealthy, spoiled and sadistic girl with a long history of bullying unpopular classmates, her favorite victim being the titular character,
Carrie White.
Heather Chandler in the 1989 black comedy Heathers, played by
Kim Walker. Chandler is a wealthy and beautiful but maliciously cruel narcissist who rules over the students of Westerberg High School. Her overwhelming cruelty to her peers causes them a great deal of mental stress, leading them to develop low self-esteem and
eating disorders.
Jennifer Check in the 2009 horror film Jennifer's Body, played by
Megan Fox. A conceited and spiteful cheerleader who often browbeats and dominates her weak-willed best friend (played by
Amanda Seyfried), and who becomes possessed by a
succubus, killing and cannibalising her male classmates, after being sacrificed in a dark magic ritual.
^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
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.
ISBN1580629334.