To find cliques intimidating and/or annoying?

[malificent7]

My dd is in a clique. It is annoying as they are so conformist in what they wear. If the queen bee decides something is uncool then they all agree lest they get ousted out.
Their mums are all in a clique... do everything together. I used to be friendly with them but have been pushed out. It kind of hurts but then im glad i have the freedom to be who i want to be.
I always find myself on the finges of friendship groups. Dont know how i feel... kind of sad but kind of glad im not stuck in one group. Im also very happy with my own company and am not willing to suck up to queen bees.
Am i missing out? I always feel that the cliques are uite intimidating and overpowering tbh. Strength in numbers but they have decided i dont fit for whatever reason.

Yabu. I find the describing of women's friendship groups as cliques sexist and annoying. It's as if women cannot be free to choose their own friends, but must like and talk to everyone, whether they actually wish to spend time with them or not.

I think because my daughter is friends with the friendship group's kid i feel sad for her.
As ive been dropped from said group i cant hand arpund woth all the other mums while the kids pkay.
On the plus side i have mum friends from different towns and i feel it's great for dd to play with kids outside the usual group too.

I think a clique is an actual thing Miniwoke. It is also applied to men or mixed groups imo.

I'm starting to think of cliques as being more 'strategic alliances' than friendship groups. That they are to be found in the social sphere makes it all the more confusing and hurtful for those who don't care for such networking. The ones I know are all led by women who are far more controlling and manipulative than I am and who are all very selective in who they welcome and who they ignore. That they might ignore me but nurture my friends makes them both divisive and toxic.

I have been a part of the school parent committee for many years and we often have the "oh it's just a big clique" thrown at us. We invite everyone to our meetings and we ask everyone to help if they can at events even if they don't attend meetings. We have a fb group where we share all info and regularly ask for help and input.
We can't win though as we still get thought of as a clique. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I honestly don't get this. I currently live in a village where virtually everyone else has lived here since birth, so it's quite a 'closed' society, and I've found it very isolating. When I was brand new here, on maternity leave with a small baby, going to all the baby and toddler groups and making conversation, I was blanked or greeted with bafflement a lot.

BUT 'clique' seems to be used on Mn with an aura of blame, as if all friendship groups need to be endlessly open to new members, whereas I don't see it that way. It would have been nice to make new friends here, but no one is obliged to 'take me on', and the general lack of interest in a foreign stranger who doesn't really fit the usual 'profile' for women my age here certainly doesn't come with malice.