Catfight

The girls had a catfight.

The caterwauling from the catfight in the back yard was awful; I couldn't get to sleep until it was over.

Nancy and Sheila got into a catfight when Nancy's boyfriend cheated on her with Sheila.

Female conflict, seen in this kind of structure, works conveniently—it takes note of aggression in women and sets it against other women. Men are spared. The audience applauds. Everyone loves a catfight.

There was a time when I would get furious and fire off an angry note if someone cast me in a catfight with a woman colleague. I assumed that catfights would fade as women progressed. They seemed so retro.