2005-12-11

Recently, a colleague of mine gave me a copy of the movie Mean Girls to see if it would be useful in my women�s studies class. Certainly, when the movie came out, many touted it as having a feminist subtext or even being overtly feminist. I can see why some would say that Mean Girls has a feminist message; after all, the movie is about recognizing and speaking out against female bullying and relational aggression (a popular topic these days), and the apparent message of the movie is that teenaged girls should treat each other and themselves with respect, rather than competing with and backstabbing each other.

However, although I found the movie entertaining, smartly written, and well-acted, I was disturbed at the mixed messages within the film, not to mention some instances of actual misogyny and sexism (for example, at one point, the main character, dressed as a �zombie bride� for Halloween, quips that she is actually supposed to be �an ex-wife�). What I found most problematic, however, was the lack of real analysis of why girls practice cruel exclusion, spread rumours, and use epithets such as �fat,� �ugly,� �sluts� and �whores.�

For those who have not seen the movie, a quick recap: Mean Girls is the story of 16-year-old Cady, who has spent the last twelve years of her life being homeschooled by her anthropologist parents in Africa. When her mother is offered a position at an American university, Cady is uprooted and must attend American public school for the first time. As an outsider, Cady is unfamiliar with the complex dynamics of life in high school. She is adopted into a popular clique almost immediately, but finds out quickly that her new �friends� are actually �mean girls� who gossip, backstab, and spread rumours about everyone, including their so-called friends.

Tina Fey, the film�s screenwriter, does a good job of illustrating the ways in which girls can be cruel to each other. There is exclusion, rumour-spreading, and two-facedness galore, and it is portrayed realistically and well. I do not deny that this type of harmful behaviour goes on among girls in high schools. I thought that the ending (where the girls are exhorted to recognize that their cruel behaviour to others has tangible negative consequences for others and themselves) had a positive message. However, what disturbed me was the lack of any real exploration of the root causes for female bullying and relational aggression. The film did not acknowledge the fact that women, and by extension, young girls, are often silenced and marginalized, and that it is common for marginalized and oppressed groups to internalize negative messages (girls should be judged on their appearance; girls are without intrinsic value; sexual behaviour in girls should be carefully monitored and punished) and then act upon them (by judging themselves and other girls on their appearance; by demeaning their own and others� intelligence; by calling other girls sluts and whores).

I also felt that there was a complete lack of analysis of the part that boys play in bullying and shaming girls in high school. Although it is popular right now to focus on girl-on-girl bullying, the statistics on sexual harassment and bullying of girls by boys are alarming. This was not addressed in the movie at all. In fact, toward the end of the movie there is a full-on stereotypical "cat fight" between all the junior girls in the school; after this, only the girls are called into the gym for an assembly on bullying. In addition, the main male character seems to have very few flaws at all, with the possible exception of having the poor taste to be attracted for a while to one of the �mean girls.� While some would argue that one cannot include everything in a movie, and that the moviemakers simply chose to focus on bullying in girls� relationships with each other, I would argue that life is not a vacuum, and that it is irresponsible to examine girls� relationships with each other without analyzing the influence that males have as well. The ramification of ignoring the intertwined nature of these relationships is the implication that the �mean girl� phenomenon occurs in a vacuum--that there is no larger root cause of societal misogyny that influences this behaviour.

I see this movie as part of a trend of popular postfeminist thought in North American media and society in general. There is a movement afoot to dismiss feminism as quaint, to dismiss feminist critiques of society as misguided and old-fashioned, to claim that women are now equal with men and that anyone who thinks otherwise has succumbed to a �women are victims� mentality. However, I think that this is a dangerous trend, and a continuation of the anti-feminist backlash that has been present ever since some women started calling themselves feminists. Just because women have made some gains does not mean that we are �equal� with men. And because I do not subscribe to the school of liberal feminist thought, I think that rather than asking ourselves if we are equal to men, it is more productive to look at changing patriarchal societal structures that are harmful to both women AND men.

Posted by polarcanuck at 6:43 p.m.

Add a comment (1 comments so far)