A school diva is a popular culture

Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...

 reference for a well-liked or worshipped female student, whether in elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

, middle school

Middle school

Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

, or high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, who sees herself as an alpha female. Commonly characterized by television shows and movies, school divas are often portrayed as popular or pretty and regularly selfish and arrogant. Finishing school

Finishing school

A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...

s are said to be replete with this type of student.

School divas are often characterized by:

• Having an overly-heightened self-esteem
  Self-esteem
  Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
  
  , which may lead to arrogance
  Arrogance
  Arrogance or arrogant may refer to:*Overbearing*Hubris...
  
   and narcissism
  Narcissism
  Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
  
  
• Being overly-aggressive, selfish, manipulative
  Psychological manipulation
  Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
  
   and strong-willed
• Behaving as a bully
• Being wealthy and/or "spoiled"
• Being admired, envied and/or hated by female peers

This trauma/tragedy is often hinted at though never explicately stated in media featuring school divas. For example, in the film Heathers

Heathers

Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The film portrays four girls in a trend-setting clique at a fictional Ohio high school...

, the members of the Heathers clique appear to be banded together out of mutual misery rather than respect or friendship. Heather McNamara, a cheerleader, is painfully insecure and reveals her parents are divorced and that she is failing her classes; Heather Chandler, the lead Heather and the wickedest of the clique, has a self-help

Self-help

Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...

 book in her locker entitled The Castrated Family, a book on dysfunctional families and how to cope with them. Also in the film Mean Girls

Mean Girls

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy-drama film directed by Mark Waters. The screenplay was written by Tina Fey and is based in part on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which describes how female high school social cliques operate and the effect they can have...

, wealthy gossip Gretchen Weiners mistakenly reveals that the Queen Bee Regina's parents' marriage is on the rocks, which could be the source of her antisocial behaviour.

See also

• Diva
  Diva
  A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
  
  
• Elitism
  Elitism
  Elitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite — a select group of people with intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
  
  
• Spoiled brat
• Queen bee
  Queen bee (subculture)
  A queen bee is the leader of a female group, a clique's leader, usually a popular young lady. Characteristics often associated to her are a pleasant appearance, charisma, skill in manipulation, and monetary power. She is sometimes portrayed as the Head Cheerleader, Prom Queen, Homecoming Queen,...
  
  
• Valley girl
  Valley girl
  Valley Girl is a stereotype leveled at a socio-economic and ethnic class of American women who can be described as colloquial English-speaking and materialistic...