Stop! In the name of sisterhood. Sharon Leal, Beyonce Knowles and Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls. Photograph: Jerry Watson/Camera Press
With the promotional shove for the film Dreamgirls gathering steam ahead of its February 2 British release, it's a good time to ruminate on the crux of the script - the career-imploding jealousy that stemmed from the original lead singer of the female soul trio Dreams being shunted aside in favour of a prettier, more ambitious, member. The story is, of course, based on that of the Supremes, whose leader, Florence Ballard, was edged out by the less-talented, more-mainstream Diana Ross. Ballard's death from heart failure at 32 was blamed on depression (and consequent alcoholism) arising from being forced out of the spotlight.
Jealousy and personality conflicts are themes that surface again and again among female bands. It's not that their male counterparts aren't also known for pettiness and grudges (what are Oasis if not one long simian personality clash?), but why do these issues have a particularly adverse effect on girl groups?
This is a contentious thought, but it's hard to think of a female band that hasn't been riven by what The Sun calls "catfighting" - the cliquishness and, yes, nastiness that close-knit groups of women often excel at.
Sad but true. Maybe women lack the last-gang-in-town mentality that bonds men; maybe there's less of a sense that all members are pulling toward a common goal - whatever it is, too many female groups fall out over matters that male groups seem to find ways of resolving. The ascent of one member to a first-among-equals position - think the Go-Gos' Belinda Carlisle, Mis-Teeq's Alesha Dixon or Destiny's Child's Beyonce (who, aptly, plays the Rossian character Deena Jones in Dreamgirls) - is a frequent cause of girl bands splitting up.
With the Sugababes, original member Siobhan Donaghy claimed to have been frozen out by Keisha Buchanan and Mutya Buena, who supposedly spoke in code when she was around.
All Saints spent the entire first chapter of their career as two factions - musicianly Shaznay and Mel versus party-loving Nat and Nic. They finally broke up after arguing about a jacket.
It's awful to hear things like that, because the number of currently successful all-female bands can still be counted on the fingers of one hand, and - sorry for being boring - that in itself makes them role models. The gents, meanwhile, are more willing to accommodate each other's ambitions, or at least to swallow their pride. I wish I knew why. How have, say, Razorlight managed to hold it together to finish 2006 as one of the UK's biggest bands when all you hear is how much leader Johnny Borrell's fame is resented by the other three?
Is this one of those unresolvable, men-are-from-Mars issues, or will an increase in the number of woman musicians create a more supportive, less competitive atmosphere?
