John Donne had it right. Comparisons ARE Odious.
The knives were out for more than just wedding cake on Friday as headlines such as Did Pippa Outshine Her Sister? Awkward! and Pippa Middleton Steals the Show hit the newspapers and online sites.
Why do we insist on tallying up “beauty points” between women? Could not both sisters be beautiful, without generating such spiteful headlines? Every aspect of The Royal Wedding was correographed to the finest detail. Kate was undoubtedly fully aware of what her sister would be wearing, and how fabulous she looked. The sisters seem to share a very close and warm relationship, and clearly Kate is confident enough in herself to want her sister to look equally gorgeous.
What is the human characteristic that can’t imagine such generous behavior from one woman toward another? Is it a sinister extension of the culture of Mean Girls popularized by the 2004 film by the same name?
Having raised three daughters through their teenage years and into young adulthood, I have at times been appalled by the sheer nastiness of girl cliques. Girls can be utterly vicious in creating and maintaining social stratum with their Queen Bees. By and large this was a high school phenomenon and by the time the girls moved through university and into their working careers the scars from some very nasty encounters had faded. Today their female friendships seem to be based on solid mutual support and generosity, and they know to give Queen Bees a wide berth.
I can only conclude that the authors of these articles are still wanna-be-Queen Bees. Time to grow up, folks.