Mean Girls: The Price of Popularity
By: Kaelie Malcomb
"You can't sit with us," (Walters, 2004, 54:03:00) is more than just a phrase from a movie; it is a reflection on what high school is like for teens. The movie Mean Girls is a 2004 film about a teenage high school student named Cady Heron who has just recently moved from Africa to the suburbs of Illinois. Cady finally gets to experience what it is like to go to public school, and she is soon in for a reality shock when she encounters the cliques and social conformity towards "The Plastics." This allows the audience to see the film through a girl who has always been homeschooled. The movie sets a scene for teenage girls and parents of what it is like to be a girl in a world where looks and popularity are so crucial in fitting in. Using a girlhood studies lens, my essay will show how Mean Girls challenges the "Mean Girl" stereotype by showing a nuanced view of friendships between girls and by emphasizing the deviating effect that cultural expectations have on girlhood.
From a girlhood perspective, Mean Girls critiques how female friendships are highly competitive and driven by the desire to be at the top of the social ladder, even if it means betraying one another. Because of this, girls are devalued and their worth is reduced to how popular they are. Girlhood scholars like Fiona Macdonald argue that girls' friendships are shaped by rivalry and the longing to fit into a certain clique. Regina George is considered the Queen Bee of the group. "And evil takes a human form in Regina George. Don't be fooled because she may seem like your typical selfish, back-stabbing slut faced ho-bag, but in reality, she's so much more than that. She's the queen bee - the star, those other two are just her little workers." (Walters, 2004, 8:01:18) This quote from the movie emphasizes the control and power that Regina George holds in the walls of North Shore High School. Regina controls everything in her clique, including the fashion choices and who comes in and out of the group called the "Plastics." This relates to my research where girlhood scholar, Fiona Macdonald, talks about how girls struggle to conform to social expectations, specifically with friendship groups. Fiona Macdonald does a year-long ethnographic study in the Melbourne Primary school, where she reflects on girls ‘ day practices, and their yearning to fit in. While observing the girls, she notices there is very clearly a group of girls that stood out as the most popular, and who seemed to have control of who comes in and out of the circle. (Macdonald, 2014, p. 53) Regina's power over "The Plastics" is very similar to the friendship circle that Fiona Macdonald observed in her research. Both examples show how a girl's worth becomes based on her ability to keep authority over the friendship circles. This leads to girls placing more importance on their social status, rather than nurturing female friendships. In Mean Girls, this pressure to fit in ultimately leaves Cady feeling alone, and like she has completely lost her true,e authentic self, which shows the cost one has to pay if they want to prioritize the wrong things.
Indirect Aggression in the film plays a major factor in keeping the social hierarchies where they are supposed to be, and it shows how girls will go as far as to hurt others to maintain this power. Indirect aggression was "when someone tries to attack a person socially through non-contact means (e.g., gossip, rumor spreading, exclusion)"(Larrea, 2023). Through the lens of girlhood, we can see the expectation that social conformity comes before true female friendships, which reinforces the idea that female friendships are driven by competition. An example of when this is shown is the creation of the "Burn Book", which is a book where the plastics write down mean things about the people they go to school with. Indirect aggression is a major factor in keeping the group together, and it is the way that the plastics show conformity, since girls in the group who don't follow the rules are subject to being left out or shamed. In M. Macdonald's research article Negotiations of Identity and Belonging, she notices that not conforming to these norms can lead to being left out. (Macdonald, 2014) This revelation shows just how toxic and controlling female friendships can be, and since this was a real research study, it shows how Mean Girls can be a preview of what a girl can expect in her teenage years. In conclusion, aggression is manifested when the competition to maintain social status comes into play, sparking the toxic dynamic between girls.
Additionally, Mean Girls also critiques the constant stress that girls deal with in order to fit into the cultural expectations, which include looks, beauty, and popularity. The film shows how in girlhood our identification is often formed by unrealistic cultural expectations, and surface beauty. In the film, the pressure to meet these certain expectations shows how girls are reduced to their beauty and physical appearance, rather than what is important, including their talents and individuality. Girlhood scholars reported that "The process of being embodied according to cultural expectations for gendered personhood assumes an ideal girl is white, heterosexual, conventionally feminine, and attractive"(Gonick, 2020). Regina is a blueprint for this perfect expectation. Regina is pretty, blonde, skinny, tall, rich, and can get what she wants handed to her on a silver platter. When Cady entered high school, she very quickly realized how much popularity, looks, and social status get you through high school smoothly. Cady's transformation is central to the narrative of the film, and it shows how cultural expectations can fully change an individual's looks, personality, and identity. When Cady first moves from Africa, she is depicted as a shy, family-oriented, oblivious, and innocent girl. Cady comes to school so naive and unaware of the extreme social pressures that high school holds. She does not know what to expect because she was homeschooled in Africa. When Cady joins "The Plastics," she immediately becomes sucked into their void. At first, Cady starts by dressing up to fit their standards, one of the fashion rules being, " On Wednesdays we wear pink."(Walters, 2004, 11:53:00) This rule shows how "The Plastics" use looks as a form of control. The girls have to conform to social expectations like these to keep their place in the group. After being around the group constantly, Cady starts to become a replica of Regina, mimicking her toxic and mean behavior, and she slowly loses her sense of self in order to compete for popularity.
From the start, Cady's transformation is just an unharmful attempt to fit in, but as she begins to spend more time with the group, she picks up on their mean, manipulative, and toxic behaviors. Cady starts to try to come for Regina's spot on the social ladder by trying to sabotage her looks and by spreading rumors. She distances herself from her first friends, Janice and Damien, and prioritizes popularity and social status over what truly matters. By the end of the film, Cady realizes what truly matters, and how much she lost herself in the pursuit to become a teen popular, like Regina George. During the beginning of Cady's transformation she states, " I used to think there was just fat and skinny. But there's lots of things that can be wrong with your body." (Walters, 2004, 19:35:00) This movie line shows the turning point where Cady started to look at herself through the lens of her physical appearance, and it reinforces the price one has to pay for conforming to societal expectations, and how much value girls place on their appearance. She starts as an innocent and secure teenage girl, and shifts to a judgmental view of herself that she did not have once before. Being around the plastics made her so much more aware of the insecurities of teen girls than she had ever seen before, living in Africa with her parents. Through the course of the movie, she notices herself focusing more on her appearance, but by the end, nd during her spring fling speech, she realizes that all the glitz and glamour of popularity isn't going to provide real fulfillment.
The persistent pressures to maintain social status, looks, and popularity in Mean Girls are parallel to the beauty pressures that place value on girls in the current day in age. Jennifer Helgren’s research talks about the pressure that is placed on girls to be "sexy, successful, and popular." She quotes, "Social media in the 21st century further elevates the pressure to appear sexy, successful, and popular, and body shaming and bullying pervade these platforms." (Helgren, 2020, p. 845) Even though Mean Girls aired far before the full impact that social media had on society culturally, this quote shows how these cultural pressures developed years later. Mean Girls shows an environment where beauty defines a girl's worth, and how a girl is limited to her beauty rather than what's on the inside. This kind of mentality creates a very toxic environment, which is very clearly seen in not only Cady Heron but also Regina George, who has an obsession with diet culture and staying thin.
Regina George and her hyperfixation on her body are a clear indication of the movie's pressure on maintaining beauty to fit the standard. Mean Girls does not specifically talk about eating disorders as a whole, but it is implied through Regina's disordered eating, body shaming, calorie counting, and dieting. An example of one of Regina's strict diet regimens is when she follows the South Beach Fat Flush Diet. "It's called the South Beach Fat Flus, and all you drink is cranberry juice for 72 hours." (Walters, 2002, 30:26:00). This quote shows the extreme lengths that Regina will go to remain skinny, no matter how unhealthy and unrealistic it may be. The movie portrays this scene as somewhat comedic, as if Regina is just being vain and self-obsessed. The movie's portrayal devalues girls, but in reality, these concerns are no joke. According to research, "By age 6, girls especially start to express concerns about their weight or shape. 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat. This concern endures through life." (Ricks, 2018) Regina's extreme fixation on losing weight in Mean Girls shows how normalized these habits are, and how this plays a part in the culture of body shaming in today's day in age.
In conclusion, Mean Girls is not just a teen comedy; it shows us the constant pressures that girls face trying to conform to cultural expectations. Through a girlhood studies lens, the film shows how these pressures affect characters such as Regina and Cady, emphasizing the main idea that being popular defines The film challenges the "Mean Girl" stereotype by showing a nuanced view of friendships between girls, where indirect aggression and competition are the main themes. These behaviors of aggression and competition ultimately show us how girls are devalued based on their beauty and how well they conform to the social standards. The film challenges us to reflect on our own decisions, how we treat our peers, and ultimately that the grass isn't always greener. Being our true, authentic self is more empowering than conforming to societal pressure and losing ourselves. In the final spring fling scene Cady breaks the spring fling crown and states, " Why is everybody stressing over this thing, I mean it is just plastic." (Walters, 2002, 1:28:00) This ending scene is a powerful reminder that social validation and expectations don't truly matter, and that being your true authentic self is the real prize.
Work Cited:
Gonick, M. (2020). Girls (p. 852). SAGE Publications.
Helgren, J. (2020). Girlhood (p. 845). SAGE Publications.
Macdonald, F. (2014). Negotiations of Identity and Belonging. Berghahn Journals.
Ryan, L. (2023). That ‘ So Fetch: Social Psychology Themes in Mean Girls. The International Honor Society in Psychology.
https://www.psichi.org/blogpost/987366/491881/That-s-So-Fetch-Social-Psychology-Themes-in-Mean-Girls
Ricks, E. (2018). The villainization of eating disorders in popular culture. Women's Media Center's Newsletter.
https://womensmediacenter.com/fbomb/the-villainization-of-eating-disorders-in-popular-culture
Walters, M. (Director). (1990). Mean Girls [Film]. Paramount Pictures.