Let me ask you this: what is femininity to you? What does it mean to be feminine? Do you picture short skirts, shiny lipstick, and pink plumes? Or perhaps you picture your Pinterest. Maybe, you even visualize a representation of every girl. Every individual. Everyone. In definition, femininity is qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women. However, femininity is not exclusive to only one type of girl and it is not exclusive to women. In Hollywood, hyper-femininity is often demonized with ‘girly-girls’ shown as antagonists/villains competing with other girls.
In films, hyper-femininity is represented by girls that are white, blonde, wealthy, skinny, have a love of makeup, do lots of shopping, and are, overall, airheads. The film Mean Girls is a clear example of that. Regina George, one of the main characters in the film, is a real-life Barbie with the advantage of popularity. However, unlike Barbie, Regina has no ambitions and no plans. Instead, the only thing that is evident in the film is her effort to keep her body perfect, her skin soft and to create trends in her High School. Her costume here is essential for this argument: Regina usually wears pink, short skirts, and tight dresses, representing ultra-femininity and reflecting her shallow and dramatic personality. By portraying this teenage girl as evil, the director implies that it is not right to look feminine and that it is not right to fall into stereotypes. This becomes even more clear when our protagonist, Cady, goes from being a classic ‘tomboy,’ a smart and nerdy girl with no interest in fashion and who cares about those surrounding her, to a mean, superficial girl who wears pastels, lipstick, and gossips about her closest friends: demonstrating that ultra-femininity equals lack of substance. Caring about fashion and caring about appearance is Cady's downfall; it is the moment we realize she has changed to fit into a social pattern. This is not necessarily Cady's fault; she was smart enough to adapt to her surroundings to, not just survive high school, but to become the most popular girl and to become what society expects of her. However, she still ends up being villainized for being girly.
Additionally, the character Janis is the complete antithesis of Regina but is just as mean as her. Janis' wardrobe condenses into a mixture of blacks and grey colours, long skirts and vests. In the film, she is supposed to be the juxtaposition of Regina George, yet she ends up manipulating Cady into getting revenge on her rival, Regina. From the beginning, Janis turns Regina into her competition, being inconsiderate of people's feelings. However, Janis' actions are not shown to be negative or aggressive, whereas all the other characters are forced to change not only physically, but mentally, joining sports and other clubs to accentuate their personality, Janis is left untouched. She has no dramatic wardrobe change, and nothing really shows that she reflects on what she has done. Keeping her heavy eyeliner from beginning to end is a contrast to the plastic's makeup: while their makeup is a metaphor for their shallowness, Janis' makeup is a symbol of her confidence and consistency on getting what she wants. Moreover, their competitiveness is also one stereotype of femininity. Instead of joining forces they compete over boys and popularity. Towards the end of the movie, Cady steals Regina's boyfriend by acting ‘stupid’ in attempt to get tutoring lessons, which clearly shows her priorities. This not only happens in Mean Girls, but also in many other films where ‘girly girls’ are portrayed as villains, for example: Sharpay Evans (From High School Musical) in her search for Troy, Elle Woods (from Legally Blonde) in her search for Warner and many others.
Interestingly, I am not completely against the “mean girl” trope, but I do believe that it has had a considerable impact on society, making us feel uncomfortable wearing pink or being seen in heels, intensifying internalised misogyny and misogyny in general. However, I disagree that all this comes from these films. Many of the characters mentioned here were my childhood favourites and I aspired to be like them. I aspired to be as powerful as them and to always put myself first. After all, femininity was never supposed to represent a lack of personality, it was supposed to represent superiority - in Greek Mythology, beauty was a sign of strength, not only physical strength, but mental strength, signifying power.
Another reason hyperfemininity could be seen through such a negative lens is because of history: in the second wave of feminism (1960s to 1980s) women began to adapt to more stereotypically masculine things by dropping makeup, and other things associated to be feminine, in order to be taken more seriously; to show that whatever a man could do, they could do it just as well. Can you blame them? After the war, many jobs that had been taken by women, were being reconquered by men - the same soldiers that demanded their wives to “go back to the kitchen.” Femininity was left behind by most of the female population who were fighting for equality and was seen by subsequent generations as a negative trait. With that being said, Hollywood has been obstructive, standing in the way of evolution. Katniss, from The Hunger Games, is incapable of performing femininity because she is strong and agile - she knows how to fight and how to shoot. Sharpay Evans, from High School Musical, was unsuccessful in her High School career, punished for wearing sparkly dresses and pink skirts. Bianca, from 10 Things I Hate About You, is considered an ‘airhead’ because she likes fashion. Cheer, from Clueless, does not drive correctly and gets bad grades because “she has a full wardrobe.”
Femininity is for everyone, and it is really important that the film industry can show us a representation of that. I want to see ‘overly feminine girls’ in control of their own future. I want to see strong girls not afraid to wear pink. I want girls to be self-confident without being portrayed as a diva or a villain. I want ultra-femininity outfits to be shown as not only a real, but inspiring lifestyle, and I want girls that look all kind of ways to be presented as feminine. I want Hollywood to change.