“My mouth is a fire escape. The words coming out don’t care that they are naked. There is something burning in here.” ~ Andrea Gibson (RIP 🙏🏽💕)
It’s time I spoke to the ‘mean girl’ label. It’s been tossed around a bit too liberally for my taste, so I’ve decided to risk the high-road backlash and tell you what I’ve really been thinking and feeling. Am I a mean girl? I’ll let you decide. I kick things off with an excerpt from a recent Patreon drop on parasocial influence — the one-sided connection we feel with a leader, influencer, or public figure who we’ve never met in person and/or have had only minimal contact with. From there, I discuss the sometimes imperceptible line folks draw between saying what’s real and mean-girling, and in doing so, I offer a critical heads up: Fawning isn’t friendship; it’s high-vibe avoidance. Also, the postfeminist co-opting of ‘cult’ure series content is something I saw coming, and alas, that day is here. I tell you why the recent launches of some high-profile Org apostates are about what I expected.
July 16, 2025
Referenced in this episode:
- The Madness Vase, by Andrea Gibson (book of poems)
- #84 – Q Her A (final episode of the ‘cult’ure series)
- STC #21 | Parasocial Relationships – Empathy & Influence In A Digital Age (full episode on Patreon)
- #59 – The Victim Label: Gaslighting, Victim Shaming, & Tone Policing for Social Control
