“A lot of the young women we see coming to Jigsaw have issues related to school and peers,” O’Brien said, as reported by The Irish Independent. “There are lots of unwritten, unspoken rules that govern female friendship, and this makes it particularly confusing. Male peer groups tend to operate differently.

“The many swift changes in female friendship underscore feelings of not being safe and secure in school. We see a lot of young women who are upset by being excluded, isolated. You can imagine how that would influence your self-esteem.”

It’s worth noting here that the same is not true of adult women. Indeed, a study published recently in The Leadership Quarterly journal showed that in environments where senior leaders are granted significant power and discretion, female leaders treat more junior female colleagues kindly and respectfully. They also appoint more subordinate women to managerial positions, which has the effect of reducing pay inequality relative to men in similar roles.

Unfortunately, though, these shining examples do not necessarily get much attention. Instead, young women and girls are fed the ‘Queen Bee’ myth – either by fictional characters (Mean Girls’ Regina George has made female exclusion look “fetch” for some time) or stories about real-life celebrity women clawing at one another behind the scenes. Is it any wonder that it’s having such a damaging effect?

As Perry herself said in 2019: “I think that both [Taylor] and I, we are an influence to young people and especially young girls who are in this type of situation day in and day out at school.

“It’s amazing that we’ve had this opportunity to change, and I hope that other people can learn from it, too.”

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift feud rumours reignited – but why? Let’s talk about female exclusion