I want to talk about girl hate in books. By girl hate, I mean the main character putting down other girls in a variety of infuriating ways that are so painfully misogynistic and anti-feminist (I'll give specific examples in a bit).
It's something I see way too much of in books (and it's always certain types of books -- usually NA/YA romance, in an awful attempt to make the main character seem great in comparison to all the other girls), especially recently...and it's just so -- disheartening? Makes me lose a little bit of faith in the world. And it's even worse when it's paired with a lack of good female friendships in the book.
A book can be problematic and still be enjoyable to read, a book can be guilty of the things I'm about to talk about and still entertain me. It's something I can overlook, I can like a book in spite of it -- but I'm beginning to realise that it's because I've become desensitised to it and that bothers me.
I don't like seeing the main character be horribly catty towards other girls.

I don't like seeing the main character slut shame the female characters while the male ones get a free pass -- I don't like anyone being slut shamed. A person should not be judged by the number of people they've slept with, only the way they treat other people.
I don't like it when the main character uses make-up or shopping as indicators of a character being vapid with nothing else to offer.
I don't like the main character deciding that a girl is a skank/slut because of the clothes she chooses to wear...and I really, really, really hate that the mean girl character is always described as wearing a certain uniform (skin-tight, skin-showing, heavy make-up, etc.).

Wearing make-up does not mean a girl is insecure. Wearing a lot of make-up does not make someone a slut. Girls, more often than not, wear make-up for themselves. Not all girls wear make-up to impress guys, and if any do, so what? Nothing wrong with wanting to get all dressed up and have people find you attractive.
Can we take those misconceptions and set them on fire now? Just...burn them. They're worthless.

You can't tell if someone is a good person based on how many people they've had sex with -- you can, however, tell an awful lot about a person who tries to shame someone for something they have no reason to be ashamed of. A girls clothes don't tell you anything about her that really matters and neither does her sex-life.
So yeah... I hate seeing female characters judged like that because it's not okay. And it's such a ridiculous double standard because the male characters in books (and males in life, in general) get away with the same things and worse.
Back to the make-up and shopping thing. Why are liking those things always used as negatives? Just like liking pop music or certain types of books or TV shows? A girl can like those things and still be an awesome person. You can't sum up who a person is because you know they like make-up and shopping. We don't let our best selves spill out for people we barely know -- it's something that is earned by the ones that stick around long enough to know us.
Writing a female character off as if she's worthless because she's into stereotypical feminine things (which, again, is misogynistic as hell)... It's infuriating. Those things don't tell you the heart of a person, they don't tell you the kind of friend they are or anything of real importance.
And why, why, why do authors have the dude say "You're not like other girls" as if it's a compliment, as if being like other girls is a bad thing... It isn't, and if a guy tries to use that as a compliment you should be offended on behalf of your entire gender, not swooning.
What is even worse is when the main character describes themselves as not being like other girls, that's just -- why? You don't want to be like other girls, fine, you're out of the band...go sit in the corner and think about how ridiculous you are and you can only come back when you realise that girls are awesome. Girls are fierce. Having amazing friends that are girls is one of the best feelings. You should be proud of being like other girls, not distancing yourself from it.
Moving on again...
The ex girlfriend doesn't always have to be vilified. The girl who likes the same guy you do doesn't have to be an awful person. GIRLS DON'T HAVE TO HATE GIRLS BECAUSE OF GUYS!!! Why can't the characters just acknowledge that, hey, I like this dude, this other girl likes the same dude -- we have such good taste in dudes! Or to realise that if the ex is such an awful excuse for a human being, what does that say about the love interest if he actually dated such an awful person?

I think that's enough ranting for one post. Basically, I want girl hate in books to stop (well, within reason, it is okay to write female characters in a negative way, it's okay for them to be the bad guys of the story....but can we stop doing it in the ways mentioned in this post?), I want well written female characters.
And I want to see good female friendships. Friendships where they talk about guys but also talk about more than just that. Friendships where they're fiercely loyal. Friendships based on more than just convenience or common interests, ones that run deeper than that. There is so much that girls talk about, so much that they do, that doesn't revolve around guys and I'd love to find more books that reflect that (e.g. Code Name Verity -- how I adore thee!)
Discussion questions:
1. Does girl hate in books bother you? Is it something you can overlook, or is it a deal-breaker for you?
2. If it is something that bothered you, when did you realise it? Because for me, it's something that has been so ingrained in us from a young age that it realising how wrong it was took some time...seeing the double standards, the misogyny...it was a gradual thing.
3. Can you recommend any books with excellent female friendships?
4. What about books that don't vilify any female rivals for the love interests affections?
5. I've not read enough to judge, but are these things present in LGBTQ+ romances? Is it something that is more of a cis-het issue?
I guess that's all. Sorry I got so rambling, but the past three books I've read have all been guilty of these things and it got under my skin.
Later.