Research Investigation

Does the representation of young females in 'Mean Girls' and 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging' reinforce or challenge stereotypical viewpoints?"

In this investigation I will be examining the representation of teenage girls in Mean Girls [1] and ATAPS [2], I will be applying Mulvey's theory to key scenes within the films, and I will investigate if the stereotype within the films challenge or reinforce the representation.  Femininity is defined as a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles generally associated with girls and women [3]. Attributes and behaviour and roles within film still tend to stick to the traditional idea of women being domesticated and take main roles of being a house wife and aim to please and attracted male attention. 

The theorist Laura Mulvey proposed the idea of a male gaze, this 'gaze' is 'analysing visual culture, that deals with how an audience views the people presented' [4] it states that "The defining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure who is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness" [5]. Daniel Chandler reads into Mulvey’s theory and comments that 'Many objected to the fixity of the alignment of passivity with femininity and activity with masculinity and to a failure to account for the female spectator' [7] this suggests that in many films, many of the actors and actresses are used for male pleasure only, as he quotes 'failure to account for the female spectator'. In film, Mulvey suggests the idea of  "dominant patriarchal order"[15] which portrays that women in films are only used to make the leading male playing the main role more appealing and masculine, by using a woman, how in most cases she appears to be in distress or is trying to catch the males attention like in Mean Girls[1] and ATAPS[2]. By using women in this way to make a male characters seem like the 'Hero' as Propp's 'Character Theory'[16] it shows that men's role within film and folklore 'take care of' and 'rescue' the character of the 'Princess', in most cases being a woman, who is in distress or is seeking male attention.

 In the film industry, only 8% of directors are female, 13% of writers female and 19% of producers were female [8]. In ATAPS [2] the director of the film is female, therefore the representations of the girls in this film are from a different viewpoint of how girls and women are usually portrayed. In film, we see that the business is still 'male orientated' which is why most people who have been casted and the way the scripts are written are all aimed to please the male audience, speech and looks play an important role within in Mean Girls [1] the main characters that are cast, are young, good looking, popular girls, and all are well established actresses. According to Jeremy Tunstall, women in films with well-established actresses, are seen as ‘sex objects’ and that “media representations emphasise women’s domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities”[9]  this suggests that within film, women are represented as domesticated, sex objects within the roles they play in the film and are seen to be participating in typical house chores.  "The portrayal of women in the media tends to sexualise  commodify and trivialise them"[10] showing that typically women will wear clothes that aim to attract a male audience. For example in the film Mean Girls[1] which was directed by a male, the girls tend to wear shorter clothes that are more sexualised, like shorter skirts and lower cut tops.

Compared to ATAPS[2] which was directed by a female, in this we see that the girls tend to wear more covered up, childlike clothes, to show that girls do not have to be sexualised to attract an audience.  A recent article on gender equality in 500 popular films, shows that in top-grossing films without a female director or very few female influence behind the scenes suggest that 'females are more likely than males to be shown in tight, alluring attire' [17] the lack of the women in the industry has lead to girls as young as 13 to be shown in a sexualised way, due to the influence of audiences that women should be shown in a sexualised way and follow domestic role. The article states that 'females 13-20 are more likely to be shown in sexualised attire or partially naked'[17], also stating that the lack of female directors within the film industry it is increasing the negative effects like objectification of women. Gurinder Chada, the director of ATAPS[2] wanted to challenge these stereotypical views of teens and women being sexualised by showing a positive representation of young women and create a stronger role model within film[18]. In ATAPS[2] she wanted to take the 'emphasis off superficial beauty and glamour' and break away form the idea of women being 'restricted to familiar and domestic roles in the aims to please men'[18]. Chada challenges the stereotype in the fact that she does not want women to feel like they have to play a marital role and be sexualised to make men be attracted to them.

Women are typically sexualised especially in film, the idea of having an attractive woman in film appeals to males to attract a more dominant audience, in an article it suggests that 'blockbusters only make room for women as eye candy' [13] in the film Mean Girls[1] when we first see the 'plastic's' their clothing suggests the idea of the being sexualised which is a typical stereotype within film, the short shirts and skin tight tops show that it aimed to please the male audience. The uses and Gratifications theory is demonstrated within Mean Girls[1] is that it allows many teenage girls to connect with the main character, Cady. As she has to change her appearance and become someone she doesn't ant to be to fit in. Many younger teenage girls can personally identify with her character which makes the uses and gratification theory strong within Mean Girls[1]. The scene at the start of the film is constructed to show how males are attracted to the character Regina George, the idea of the males surrounding her gives the impression that women will get more male attention, this is a character within this film in particular that reinforces the stereotype in the sense that women are sexualised and crave for the male attention. We see the same kind of person in ATAPS[2], Lindsay Marling who is presented in low cut top and tight fitted clothing, in the film we see she is represented as a sexualised character via the non diegetic sound of whistles when she first appears on screen, again reinforcing the stereotype of women being sexualised. The 'Phone Scene' in Mean Girls [1] shows typically how young females are presented to an audienc. The adit of this scene and the camera shots used are medium close-up which first shows the character Cady, which places power straight to her due to the clear focus and concentration on her face. The camera then pans to the right and creates a 'split screen, showing Cady and the character Regina in a longshot, whilst Cady is still in a close-up shot, suggesting the dominance that young women portray to each other when with friends. As the scene proceeds to be split into four sections, medium close-ups are presented of each character, when a particular character begins to speak the camera is then seen panning side to side, indicating visually which character is speaking bringing what was otherwise a still shot to life. 

Within the 'Phone Scene' in Mean Girls [1], audiences are presented with four different environments which illustrate each characters personality. The mise en scene in this scene we see that all four of the girls are seen wearing stereotypically girly clothing, focusing on pastel colour such as blues, pinks and purples. The clothing is seen featuring lace and jewelled studding, indicating that these characters represent an extremely girly and feminine group. The locations are all seen to be extremely neat, giving the effect of a 'show home' furthering the idea that these girls are almost 'unnatural', the 'show home' idea infused with the clothing seen on the characters raises this idea of 'perfection'. In this particular scene a representation of an upper class lifestyle is shown through the clothing each character is seen in. The costumes each character is seen wearing almost eliminate the idea of these characters being 'villains' due to the innocent and 'girly' nature of the clothing they are wearing. This 'innocent' and 'girly' persona given to these characters is then immediately contrasted by the manipulative nature of the conversation being held within the scene. However as the scene progresses, we see the girls becoming more and more agitated with each other, as these characters are seen as strong, it is when they are plotting against each other immediately reinforces the idea of the stereotype in which woman all 'stab' each other in the back.

Mean Girls [1] shows the classic ideology of a typical girl, which is how audience view young females as self-obsessed, bitchy and boy-orientated, however as ATAPS [2] has a female director we see how differences occur, from a female point of view along the same topics of self-obsession, catty teens and dealing with boys within the film compared to Mean Girls [2]. In ATAPS [2] we also a 'phone scene' which is similar to the one that occurs in Mean Girls[1]. Instead of using the idea of split screen the camera keeps cutting back and forward towards the two main characters Georgia and Jazz. The camera angle is eye level in all of the shots in this scene, this is so the audience feel like they are a part of the conversation with the girls. Also, the camera shots are mid close ups for both of the girls, which suggest that the two have dominance within the film even though the two are apparent best friends. Compared to Mean Girls [1] the girls’ clothing does not show the idea of their femininity by having darker, more 'covered up' clothes that tend to not attract a male audience.
 Within this scene in ATAPS [2] as the clothes do not represent the idea of the girl showing there femininity, the background does. The mise en scene shows us their femininity by the pink coloured rooms and sparkly decorations which are stereotypically decorations and colours that would be found in a teenage girls room. The high key lighting within this scene suggests positive conversation, which is a typical style of lighting for a teenage film, as it shows positivity to teenagers about the problems that affect their lifestyle. As ATAPS [2] has a female director, we see that the girls are presented to be less sexualised throughout the film compared to Mean Girls[1]. This challenges the stereotype as typically in film, women are used in roles as sex objects and 'visual pleasure' for men [4]. By challenging the stereotype it allows a female audience to connect to the characters more without feeling that they need to become more sexualised to get males attention, as ATAPS [2] comes to the closing scenes, we see that the main character Georgia doesn't dress to impress males, and acts herself, which is similar ending to Mean Girls [1]. The magazine 'Men's Health' [14] shows how women are more likely to get attention from wearing low-cut tops and acting the 'dumb blonde' for male attention, these challenge the idea in this magazine that is aimed for men. 

Overall I feel that the two films Mean Girls [1] and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging[2]the films in which I chose to analyse have a balance between reinforcing and challenging the stereotype, for example the colours that are used throughout the films typically represent the idea of a typical teenage women, and with the catty attitudes and man orientated life style that teenagers want to be a part of. On the other hand I feel that these two films try and challenge the idea of a typical teenage girl and how they act due to the at that they realise that they do not have to change to get people to like them, and they should be true to themselves. I also feel it challenges the stereotype as the female characters take the main roles within the film, whereas women are normally not the main roles and used simply for the visual pleasure for men [4] these two films make females the main dominating characters and men the visual pleasure for the women. if this is the case, it is only us to blame for creating these stereotypes of women, and it is up to women themselves to break away from the idea of being sexualised, domesticated and dependent on men, a recent article online says that 'Society reflects fewer attitudes that support discrimination and inequality between men and women' making the idea of teenagers and women being trapped within the strong old fashioned view of how they should be presented, leaving it down to women to change and challenge this stereotype within the modern world.