Legally Blonde Gender

Their shared clothes imply that it`s not necessarily old-fashioned, just adventurous. It makes sense for her to dress this way because she is between the early and mid-20s and these clothes signal a supposed maturity, as Vivian maintains and dresses with old-school fashion ideas about gender roles. «In a fashion system where clothing then acts as symbols that indicate social markers such as status, gender, belonging to a social group, personality, fashion and sexuality. Symbols are internalized or naturalized in a fashion culture so that they are understood almost automatically» (Craik 5). Warner sees Vivian as a serious guy from «Jackie» and Elle as a sexualized «Marilyn.» This shows the binary in which women are seen as either a sex symbol or a nurturing body: care and sexuality are mutually exclusive. «Women cannot be both feminine and competent, and her code phrase `tough or caring.` Those who trained their brains and strength in public were seen as tough, active, analytical, determined, competent, and masculine; Those who exercised their womb with the associated responsibilities in the private sphere were identified as nurturing, passive, warm and feminine» (Jamieson 120). The Madonna-whore dichotomy categorizes women largely according to how they present their gender through clothing, which women according to «(1) their degree of distance from carnal knowledge and (2) their degree of obedience to male authority thus leads to a polarity between the Madonna, whose grace comes from her conjugal chastity, and the prostitute, as an unmarried woman, radiates sexuality» (Conrad). Vivian`s classic style is representative of a wealthy East Coast wife and mother, while Elle`s is young, playful and sexy. «The crucial task of feminism is to find strategies of subversive repetition made possible by [the narrowing of the gender-specific subject] in order to strengthen local possibilities for intervention, by participating precisely in the practices of repetition that constitute identity and thus offer the immediate possibility of questioning it» (Butler 147). The female body is encoded with submissive, non-threatening and weaker connotations than men, regardless of her dress type, so the way Elle looks at the power of her femininity, coupled with her academic excellence and showing the power and challenge of the Madonna whore dichotomy (or the Jackie-Marilyn dichotomy). In most mainstream media depictions, the type of woman personified by Elle is presented as one of two types of characters. The openly feminine and social personality of the butterfly is limited to the «stupid blonde» or the «mean girl».

The reverse is true for female characters who are supposed to be autonomous. They are often physically numb or don`t care about their physical appearance. Imitating what you need to look like to be taken seriously is the exact opposite of what many feminist movements try to defend – freedom of choice and the right to exist without question or scrutiny. The climactic scene in the courtroom near the end of the film, in which She interrogates the daughter of murder victim Chutney, played by Linda Cardellini, shows her extensive knowledge of hair care, which others consider unnecessary and conforms to the superficial, stupid stereotype of blonde they think is Elle. It`s only when a teacher sexually harasses her that she realizes she rejects her femininity. But unfortunately, it doesn`t help her become something she`s not. She confesses to a friend and the public that she knows most people, including her parents, don`t take her seriously. She tells us she knows people see her as «blonde hair and big breasts.» Like «a joke» or «a song,» but she felt like someone had expected more from her. While some may argue that the 2001 film Legally Blonde portrays a strong female role that overcomes certain barriers, Gordon Alley-Young argues in his article Celebrate Diversity, Even If That Includes the Hopeless Superficial: Lessons on Gender, Race, Class, and Sexuality in «Legally Blonde». Race, class and sexuality. For example, he notes that the representation of femininity and its elegant management of educational success distract viewers from the problematic politics of cinema.

Therefore, he denies how Elle Woods is portrayed as a Caucasian woman, and the privilege she possesses is ambiguous to her, as his main argument is Elle`s advantage, but does not notice how she «reflects without thinking about her whiteness and privilege.» Young addresses the unrealistic contradictory messages Elle Woods presents in relation to real-life situations. For example, one may wonder what the film teaches us about learning, socio-cultural diversity and the commercialization of educational images of women. However, it is doubtful that while her race and class will benefit her in the long run, women lawyers also benefit from such a designation. She in Legally Blonde attends Harvard Law School, inspiring others to think outside the box and not be afraid to be herself, as she has «rooted male partners to open their minds,» namely her ex-boyfriend Warner and her derogatory professor Callahan. Under Emmett`s guidance, «It`s actually a pretty powerful thing to be blonde. You hold more cards than you think. And I, for one, would like you to take that power and direct it towards the greater good, you know? Without a doubt, women have enjoyed tremendous success as lawyers and, with the help of the historic Clara Brett Martin, she has paved the way for women in this career. As Elle Woods says, «With passion, persuasion and strong self-confidence, we take our next steps in the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You always have to trust people. And above all, you must always believe in yourself. This may be important to some, but many women have been and still are in the workplace on a daily basis, entirely because of their gender.

There are ongoing challenges to achieving positive change in the legal profession, and it is clearly time to engage women lawyers to innovate. Moreover, the problems of discrimination against women are far more important than the actual success of an individual; Therefore, it is undeniable that it is time for legal careers to be more gender-neutral, rather than the men who command industries. The film`s latest look in Elle`s courtroom perfectly sums up her favorite presentation of hyper-femininity in her professional environment. Elle Woods defies women`s expectations in academic and legal careers while retaining her signature feminine attire. None of this means they are bad lawyers, doctors or politicians. Women also don`t need to go into male-dominated fields to be serious or the «right» kind of success. Elle Woods is more than one thing. She is blonde, in love with Rosa, twin, vegetarian and stubborn, ambitious and intelligent. It`s all of these at once, without sacrificing any part of itself. Just as Elle Woods isn`t just a thing legally, neither is Blonde. It`s a romantic comedy about a blonde sister that challenges gender stereotypes and empowers women from all walks of life (even brunettes) to have confidence in themselves and the women around them, rather than the system that oppresses them.

Legally, Blonde challenged so many beliefs about women. But some questions remain, how does this apply to those of us who are not blonde, white, cishet women? How can we even relate to this film? Legal Blonde highlights areas where we need to do even better in terms of toxic work and lack of support and academic environment and hatred of women. Women are forced into the labour market. Said you should work at least twice as hard for less pay and recognition with little or no support. www.awesomeinventions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/elle-woods-legally-blonde-faith.jpg, «many adult women avoided a color that seemed to emphasize their difference from men, even when women demanded equality with men» (Dole). The color pink has been coded for femininity since the beginning of the 20th century. Pink is «. Not surprisingly, associated with femininity and its stereotypical characteristics, such as sweetness and tenderness, childhood and innocence, vanity and artificiality.

However, there are also emergent and less obvious connotations such as independence and pleasure, sexuality and lust. (Koller 396). She perfectly combines high-quality feminine designer pieces that signify wealth and servility with useful pieces to earn respect. Throughout the film, Elle Woods makes a statement about gender and equality without conforming to dress expectations or rejecting traditional femininity in academic and professional fields. This essay will discuss Elle Woods` transformation of shaping her body through femininity, using preconceived expectations of professional and feminine roles as she transitions from a California nurse to an East Coast law student. This type of sexualized clothing defies the expectations of what is expected of a notable candidate: to score 179 on the LSAT, maintain a cumulative GPA of 4.0, and offer a plethora of extracurricular students. By deviating from expectations, she can distance herself from the gender expectations of a future law student and be admitted.