Do it like a lady!

Hey blog devotees! Just wanted to make an entry because the girls and I finished watching Mean Girls, and I had a revelation. Even though we had just watched the movie, one of my friends had referred to Janis Ian (one of the main characters) as a lesbian. However, the ending had just shown her kissing her boyfriend, so why then did my friend label Janis as a lesbian? Well, if we refer to the previous blog about the appearance of Janis Ian we may be able to infer as to why this occurred. When the predominate characteristics and traits of a man are exemplified in a character, our minds have been socialized to attach these constructs to a male persona. Therefore, since Janis Ian had been portrayed by the writers of mean girls as having male qualities but a female physical body, then our minds try to make sense of the discontinuity and label Janis a lesbian. If Janis is a lesbian, then it does not threaten our gender representations and preconceived notions of what it is to be a girl.  

If there is one thing I want to leave you guys with after this is that we need to be aware and active viewers in the media process. People, understand that these constructs are mere representations of what is real, and not actual reality. A woman should be able to present herself with power, strength, recklessness, and baggy clothes without being deemed a lesbian. Janis in fact was not a lesbian, it was her prerogative to act, dress, and speak like a man. Why? Because there is no such thing as speaking like a man, it is just a gender stereotype that has been part of the socializing process in Western society. Every time you meet someone your brain tells you to identify that person as either female or male, because then we know how to react to that person and we assume this is a natural process but it is not. Janis was in fact not a lesbian, but was the victim of gender stereotypes. 

Look like a girl, talk like a girl or else..

All of you have to remember Janice Ian! Remember,  the unpredictable and odd main characters,  who is interesting to look at to say the least!   Physically, its simple, Janis looks like a guy; she is  always dressed like a guy, she wears lose fitted clothes, her hair is always tied/ clipped back and she does not wear a lot of makeup. In a way she is "unkept" compared to most girls. She is covered up throughout the whole movie while the other girls wear short and relieving clothes an show cleavage.--->

  Her outfits usually consist of baggy pants with the long sleeve shirt and a loose t-shirt over. She can be described as more of a "tomboy", a term used to classify girls who reveal some masculine characteristics.  The majority of the time Janice can is found wearing black, grey or dark blue; she never wears any bright colors or tight fitting clothes that are. Here we see the context and colors that are used to present the audience with Janice persona, are quite masculine.  In comparison,  all the other girls who wore tight clothes, short skirts, had their makeup and hair always done to attract the male attention.  Janice is also the only girl in the movie with black hair, everyone else was either a blonde or a light brunet, suggesting that black hair is attributed to "outcast" status. Sorry to get all serious but its true. When we see dark colors being used to depict this character who is an outtcast and masculine,  representations and constructs attaching darker features to negative attributes might become socialized.


Janice also shows qualities that are usually attributed to a man, in her role as the girl best friend, she is has more power, strength, recklessness and dominance in her realtion ship with Damian (recall he is gay).

 In the story, Regina  tells everyone that Janice was a lesbian,  who was attracted to her an  the rumor is spread around the entire school. Everyone in school believes Janis to be a lesbian, reinforcing her outcast status and later on in the movie she gets called a dyke. To the school dance she wore a blue suit with a white shirt and black bowtie, whereas all the other girls wore dresses. 



Janices' overall demeaner exudes dominante masculine qualities; she doesn't care much for appearances, shows little emotionality and rather than cry or talk about her feelings she immediately has a rude reply to the obnoxious comments made at her. Just take a look!

Damien, "Too Gay to Function" continued...

"Oh my God - Danny DeVito! I love your work!" - Damien

Aside from Damien’s obvious physical portrayal of being a gay man, the character does not hold back when it comes to his even more characteristic portrayal of being a gay man. Throughout the movie, Damien uses quotes such as “She's fabulous, but she's evil” or even “Oh my God - Danny DeVito! I love your work” (this quote was actually said as he was in the girl’s washroom). His very much “flamboyant” phrases make it obvious to the viewer that they are actually encountering a gay man in the movie. Along with his “non-masculine” choices of words, Damien uses very feminine-like hand gestures to compliment his conversations. His hand gestures portray to the general audience that this man is obviously presenting a very feminine side of himself, which automatically makes him gay. Damien’s tone of voice and voice pitch is even more shocking when analyzed. If you are watching the movie without necessarily making note of Damien’s character, you might not notice that Damien’s voice pitch is in fact much higher than the rest of the men in the movie. Furthermore, his very gentle and soothing tone of voice adds even more to his portrayal of feminine qualities. Also, to top off the obvious representation of the way a gay man speaks and uses feminine like qualities throughout his conversations, Damien is even more constructed into the ideal gay man in the way he is dressed in almost every scene in the movie. Because of his light coloured shirts and light coloured pants, the audience has no choice but to form an opinion about Damien being a gay man. Damien’s choice of clothing is very calm and serene and almost inconspicuously representing a very feminine-like wardrobe.

In the movie, Damien’s body and gender is very much a system of representation. The movie uses Damien and constructs his body and gender to portray very feminine-like characteristics and even physical portrayal. Because his physical body is inconsistant with his female persona, he is labelled gay.  

Watching a gay man in any form of media makes it difficult to picture a gay man with masculine qualities. That is because the stereotype is that gay men exude feminine qualities and are more feminine-like even if that is not always the case. Therefore, in order for our stereotype to change, our media has to change and eventually our media will influence us in a more positive light.

Damien, "Too Gay to Function"

The movie ‘Mean Girls' focuses mostly on high school lifestyles. It brings out the social cliques that exist among students and can serve as an example of how gender is constructed. Damien is a key figure in the movie that reinstates gender ideologies. Although Damian’s physical structure is a male, his constructed gender is very feminine. First, we can see this in his dressing style; he loves light colors and love pinks specifically! When you watch the movie you will see that he will mostly wear light colours and faded outfits. In this way, color and context is used to create a feminine tone in Damian. Second, his tone of voice is particular; it mirrors one that is generally attributed to a female body. His hand gestures and overall demeanour are also quite feminine. For example, in one scene he grabs a piece of his friend’s hair (who is a girl) and says he has always wanted that hair colour for himself as well as asks for advice on whether or not he it will work for his complexion. In another scene, Damian says he will lend his best friend a pink shirt because he has so many. The ways in which Damian behaves are considered natural for a woman to behave. Another important point you may not have made note of while watching, is that in the friend dynamic between Janice and Damien, Damien is the submissive one that answers to Janice’s requests. Think about why this feels normal? Is it because Damian is presented like a woman so we are used to seeing a female persona as submissive?

You're a Boy, You're a Girl: Don't Forget It! - Mean Girls

Every week we will be writing about what we see in the world of media and how it influences our perceptions of gender stereotypes. This week we will be watching the movie "Mean Girls", a 2004 movie targeted to North American teenage girls. Although this movie has an abundance of stereotypes; including those about race, class, and even age, we will be focusing on the gender stereotypes throughout the movie. More specifically, we will be focusing on two characters. The first character is Damien, the gay friend to the main character Cady Heron. The second character is Janice Ian, the "thought-to-be lesbian".

We will be looking at how Damien's body and sexuality as well as Janice's body and sexuality are constructed in the movie to reinstate our stereotypes about gender and sexuality.

 Mean Girls Trailer