Stereotypes In Mean Girls

Some of the fundamental qualities required to be a successful cheerleader counter the stereotypes constantly perpetuated in media. The mean-girl stereotype does not exactly fit this narrative of them working hard and supporting athletes to performing complexed stunting and tumbling, and the memorization of chants and routines. It is unfortunate that the majority of cheer-related representation does not reflect reality, and paints the athletes in an unfavorable light, because the millions of girls who cheer are unable to identify with positive role models or even multi-dimensional people. I feel that film and television should try to depict these characters in a more positive light. These characters should be more dynamic and we shouldn't generalize

For example, Cady’s friends were the ones that coerced her to adapt into the lifestyle of a plastic, in order to have an insider in the Plastics so that they could know the horrendous things popular people said about them and in order to seek revenge on Regina for her treacherous deeds by overthrowing her. Correspondingly, another example is when Gretchen talks about how Regina had restricted the accessories she could wear. She mentions: “Two years ago she told me that hoop earrings were her thing ad that I wasn’t allowed to wear them anymore.” Clearly Regina had forced Gretchen to conform to her rules in order so that she could continue to look unique. Consequently, it becomes evident that much of the pressure being put on others in Mean Girls originates from peers. Not only are there differences, but there are also similarities in the way that the issue of having the pressure to conform comes across to the

Other people stereotype me by saying I am “basic” I’m not really sure what that meant so I asked around and I got the answers to my questions. A “basic white girl” is someone who wears leggings, fake tans, ½ zip from pink, wears earrings, wears makeup, wears fake eyelashes, wears lipstick, wears uggs, and doesn’t follow sports, nor knows what a “sport” is. When I got told I was a basic white girl at first I did not think anything of it until I asked around and found out what the basic white girl is. After I found out I felt confused I wasn’t sure how to react to that but then I started thinking to myself and asked myself why people thought that and I think I got the answers, it 's because most girls don’t follow sports, and wear makeup, and

I learned that there are many different types of social norms, but the two depicted in Mean Girls are, implicit and explicit social norms. Implicit social norms are the behavior rules that are implied without anyone having to talk about them, while explicit social norms are stated clearly and there is no room left for confusion. These types of social norms are often seen in everyday life, and if you break the norms it can lead to you being shunned by others or all the way up to punishment with the law. Social norms are all around us. In the film Mean Girls, Cady moved from Africa and had to figure out both sides of the social norms. She had not experienced any of the social norms that everyone else lived by each day. Cady had to learn all the explicit and implicit rules of girl world. For example, when Cady first told Gretchen and Karen that she thought Aaron Samuels was cute they yelled at her and warned her that she could not like him. The reason she could not like Aaron was because he was Regina’s ex boyfriend and that breaks “girl code”. Cady had no idea about the girl code which is an example of implicit social norms. An example of explicit norms is the plastics burn book and when they write “Amber D’Alessio, she made out with a hotdog” they are shunning her for breaking the behavior

The film Mean Girls, produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by Mark Waters in 2004 focuses on a teenage girl, Cady Heron, who experiences the drastic change of living and being home schooled in Africa to moving to America and attending a regular high school. While attempting to sabotage the plastics, the girls who hold the most popularity in the school, Cady unknowingly turns into one of them, leaving aspects of her old personality behind. By analyzing the film through sociological perspectives, the deeper meaning of the film can be revealed.

Mean Girls utilizes first person perspective with the protagonist, Cady narrating the majority of the film. This technique allows viewers to personally empathise with the protagonist and take on their world perspective. Further, Mean Girls frequently goes to close up camera shots of different staff and students in the school to show the overall opinion of the protagonist at varying points of her transformation; revealing the height of Cady’s popularity occurred when adhering to the ‘plastics’ materialistic standards (Mean Girls 2004). Similarly, Pink is also narrated from a first person perspective with the protagonist Ava. Accordingly, the audience is positioned to align with Ava’s perspective such as when she says ‘When I’d wanted to change boxes and become pink and perfect, all I needed to do was change schools and buy some new outfits. Kobe couldn’t do that. People would always put him in the Asian box, along with everything that went with it’ (Wilkinson 2009, p. 150). In this way, this quote reveals how the protagonist conveys the message of Asian people never being able to break from the stereotypes associated with their nationality; highlighting how the author’s ideologies are conveyed through first person narration. Additionally, Wilkinson utilises intertextual references to characterise ‘the nerds of the story’, with

Stereotyping is an issue that affects all ages, genders, and races. Not all stereotypes are bad, but when you maliciously stereotype it becomes a problem. In S.E. Hinton’s young adult novel The Outsiders, stereotyping is a significant issue. There are two gangs in this novel, the “greasers”, and the “Socs”. The greasers live on the east side and are known as “hoods”. The Socs live on the west side and are known as the west side rich kids who have all the breaks. People judge their personality just based on where they live, and what they look like. Stereotyping is an unfair way to judge people because you never know their whole story.

The film Mean Girls is an American comedy movie for teens that illustrates the mainstream high school experience in the west. The main character, Cady Heron is a sixteen-year-old girl who is a new student at bob school in Illinois. Cady moved from being home-schooled in Africa, and therefore is unaware of the environment and lifestyle at a public high school. Cady then meets Daemon and Janis, who are part of an outcast group. Janis and Damien expose Cady to the norms of their school, talking her through cliques, and most importantly introducing her to “the plastics”, a group that Janis and Damian hated. “The plastics” were the leading group of the school, consisting of three popular, attractive girls, Regina, the leader of the group and two other girls, Karen, and Gretchen. “The Plastics” then scouted Cady since she had been attractive, and got the attention of popular boys, in which Janis and Damien originally supported in order to manipulate and plan to destroy “the plastics” through Cady. Cady’s exploration with social psychology is shown through her being unaware of everything at her new high school; social psychology concepts that are shown throughout this storyline are implicit personality theory, norms and group schemas, gender roles.

Conformity is present in every group situation with adolescents. Adolescents are always looking to be a part of a group, usually conforming to the standards of the group. Adolescents often conform because they want to have the approval of the peers that are well liked or “popular”. A great example of adolescents and conformity is in the chick flick ‘Mean Girls’ through the different cliques in high school and how it affects the peers themselves. Caty, the main character, is faced with several difficult situations where she decides to conform with her high school peers getting her in trouble that becomes hard for her to escape. Caty begins the movie with a real genuine friendship with Janis and Damien, two individuals who struggled with popularity because they were considered the “outside” group. However, the popular girls, infamously called the “Plastics” try to recruit Caty into their popular group, but only because she is considered one of the prettier girls in the school. The ring leader, Regina George, of the Plastics is the most popular girl in school who is really hated by alot of peers because of her horrible attitude and how she

“Ex boyfriends are just like off limits to friends. I mean that’s just like the rule of feminism” (15:15). This famous saying said by Gretchen Wieners from Mean girls is widely known and most of the time ridiculed by people. Mean Girls is a movie that portrays the stereotypical American high school life. The movie has a main focus on the girls of high school, rather then on the boys. It centers on females and how they act at that certain age. The four mean girls, Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, Karen Smith and Cady Heron represent the stereotypes of the popular girls of high school. The role of gender plays an important role in the movie. The movie discusses the aspects of how a “typical” teenage girl should be, in order for her to fit in.

The film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, follows the story of Charlie as he braves through the challenges of freshman year. Throughout his first year, Charlies experiences friendship, alienation, love, mistakes, depression, acceptance of past events and newfound motivation. With the help of his love interest Sam, her stepbrother Patrick, and other likeminded individuals, Charlie is able to gain a sense of belonging and a boost of confidence that ensures his survival for the high school years yet to come (Halfon, Chbosky, 2012). This essay will delve into an in-depth analysis of adolescence from a socio-cultural perspective, using events from the film to provide examples and further enhance arguments. Furthermore, topics highlighting what I believe to be the most crucial aspects of adolescence will be discussed. The analysis of hegemonic masculinity, age induced frustration and restrictions, and the discourse of innocence will be defined and elaborated on. Finally, a comparison between the socio-cultural and developmental lenses of youth analysis, the unique view they each offer and my personal experience using the socio-cultural lens, will be discussed.

Everyone is different. We all have our own personalities and we all take different directions in our lives. People often find themselves lost in this giant world and feel as if they can't share what they are truly thinking or feeling. They hide their personalities and shield themselves from the people of the world, and the quote "Character is what you in the dark." all the more true. It summarizes what everyone feels at one point or another in their life. In one book called The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick, the story of four girls and their mother's is told and how they too hide their "true selves" from the world and it truly supports the quote above.

The movie that I have chosen to write a Film Analysis on is Mean Girls, which stars Lindsay Lohan and Tina Fey. The film tells the story of a girl named Cady Heron (who is played by Lindsay Lohan) and her family whom just moved from Africa to the U.S. Cady was homeschooled for nearly all of her life until she came upon her first public school; Northshore High School. As she starts her first days of schools, she finds herself with two, who can be seen as, outcast friends named Janice and Damien. They both take Cady into their group and become friends. They guide her around the school and and inform her about the “groups” and “cliques” in the school ranging from jocks to mathletes, she especially points out one group in particular, “The Plastics”. They inform her that the “The Plastics” consist of three mean popular girls, starting with Regina George (Rachel McAdams) being the head of the trio who is manipulative, backstabbing and the main antagonist in the film. Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried) Regina’s two best friends, all who are admired and treated with high

In the movie Mean Girls, Cady Heron is experiencing her first year in school despite being 16 because her parents are research zoologists and homeschooled all her life since they were in Africa on an assignment. Consequently, she had very little contact with people her age let alone western culture and was not aware of the dealings of high school or adolescence in general. As can be expected it was hard for her to adjust to this new life where adults don’t trust her and she is restricted by unfamiliar rules. She feels lonely until she becomes friends with Janis and Damian, who guide her and teach her about all the cliques in the school. But these aren’t the only people that Cady meets; “The plastics”, the school’s most infamous

Hollywood has made many movies that involve teenagers and their lives in high school. In most of those movies, they portray high school differently than actual high school. One of those movies is Mean Girls. The movie is about a girl named Cady Heron who moves to a new city from Africa and attends a public school for the first time. She gets in trouble a lot at first because she does not know the rules and customs of an American school. She quickly becomes friends with social outcasts Janis and Damian who warn her to avoid the school’s most popular girls. The popular girls take in interest in her, so Janis asks her to pretend to be friends with the popular girls, so they could mess with them. She