![]() ![]() However, as with any trend, the pendulum always swings the other way. ![]() While it’s nice to see women in all shapes and forms, there is a glaring dismissal of feminine women as less strong and therefore, not worth portraying. They go into battlefields, denounce traditionally female roles like marriage and motherhood, and generally behave like macho action heroes of the 80’s: emotionless, cold badasses. The result, barring a few notable exceptions, strong female leads overwhelmingly become more and more masculine. The pushback significantly alters how female leads are portrayed in the media: masculinization becomes their armor against injustice. ![]() The #MeToo movement in 2017 also opened wide the reality of inequality and mistreatment faced by women in the workplace. Another contributing factor is the rise of the girlboss – powerful female leaders and CEOs like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, The Huffington Post’s Ariana Huffington, and Michelle Obama – who emerged in the media as power suits-wearing women thriving in man’s world. Female characters suit up to keep up with demand and therefore we get the likes of Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman in the 2010s. Part of the reason is superhero movies becoming the dominant box office earners. Somehow this translates as women having to be masculine to be considered strong. Of course, we all know now that Hilton strategically curated that image – a smart businesswoman after all.Įntering the 2010s, there was a fresh wave of push for strong women characters, as if we didn’t have that before. ![]() The White Chicks (2004) even goes further by parodying the blonde socialite persona then popularized by Paris Hilton with all the perceived ditziness. In High School Musical, Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) is the homely studious girl who ends up winning the audition and getting the guy over vapid, ambitious Sharpay. In Mean Girls, leading lady Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is the foil to The Plastic’s well manicured image: she wears plain clothes and is a bit of a nerd. That is, female characters who don’t conform to girliness and therefore are special in that way. This coincides with the rise of the “I’m not like other girls” characters in mainstream media. Evidence of this can be seen in Mean Girls (2004) with The Plastics as a clique of popular bratty school girls whose signature motto is “on Wednesdays, we wear pink,” Sharpay Evans in High School Musical (2006), or Shelley Darling in The House Bunny (2008). Ultra feminine characters are often depicted as superficial, air-headed and petty. These films were big box office hits.įilms that celebrate femininity disappeared and suddenly, the media began portraying ladylike girls as the villain of the story or the butt of a joke as stereotypically bimbo-ish girls. The women often work in fashion, beauty or pageantry, and there is an emphasis on feminine aesthetics in the wardrobe and production design. Some examples include Nancy Meyers movies or works like Miss Congeniality, Legally Blonde, and The Devil Wears Prada. These are female-centered films depicting women who are feminine and are dealing with problems faced by women that are not limited to just romantic relationships. But this wasn’t always the case.Ĭhick flicks used to be prominent in the late 1990s-2000s Hollywood. The verdict is clear: there’s a real demand for a girly girl film, especially because they’re barely made anymore. This is unusual for a female-centered film outside of Disney Princesses films. The level of excitement for this movie probably rivals that of any Marvel movie, with endless chatter, memes, and thinkpiece articles flooding the internet. When the trailer of Barbie (2023) starring Margot Robbie first hit the internet, showing the actress adorned in head to toe pink, the world went into a frenzy. ![]()
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