She’s the Man

By: Destiny Ortiz

She’s the Man starring Amanda Bynes was released in 2006 during (arguably) the golden era of female led movies geared towards empowerment. Along with Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, Miss Congeniality, and Charlie’s Angels, She’s the Man captures the attention of young girls alike to promote a common idea: girls can do anything. In its time, She’s the man received a lot of praise and slight criticism. However, it is undeniably that this movie discussed gender roles before our give society did. Much like Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, She’s the Man was made to lighten the burden of gender normativity while mocking the model of the ideal girl and boy figure.

The main character, Viola, played by Amanda Bynes, is considered a can-do girl. As quoted by Liz Deegan in “Girls with the World at Their Feet '' in, “he new generation has arrived. Meet the Can-Do girls: confident, optimistic, and enthusiastic.” Viola is on the girls’ soccer team at her high school and it gets cut by the school. Viola wants to join the boys team and though they reject, Viola sets up a scheme of posing as her brother Sebastian at his new boarding school. In Harris “Can-Do vs At-Risk” it states, “Can-do girls are notable for their high ambitions with regard to their employment and their commitment to elaborate planning for success in their careers. They seize the opportunities made available within the new economy and make projects of their work themselves from an early age.” Viola had very high ambitions and took advantage of an opportunity placed in front of her. Refinery29 made a point when they stated in their article The Disturbing Message At The Heart Of She’s The Man Sadly Still Applies Today when it says, “Soon enough, the perfect opportunity both to play soccer and get back at her old school presents itself.” The difference between the can-do and at-risk girl is the opportunity difference. Harris

explained, “risk youth are those who are seen to be rendered vulnerable by their circumstances—living in poverty, in unstable homes, in communities known for violence, drugs, and crime, and so on.” Viola’s character is not only considered a can-do girl while also having an advantage to thrive compared to at-risk because she’s “perfect and white”. The importance of identifying Viola as a can-do girl and being the ideal girl, is how she is redefining what the can-do girl is but also the privilege these girls have.. This relates to girlhood as a subject because the structures and molds we place girls in are dangerous and being labeled as a can-do girl can set unnecessary expectations.

In The Impossibility of Being ‘‘Perfect and White’’: Black Girls’ Racialized and Gendered Schooling Experiences, Dorinda J. Carter Andrews, Tashal Brown, Eliana Castro, Effat Id-Deen, state, “Black girls face a form of discrimination that is obscured by the normality of whiteness and magnified by the pervasive duality of anti-Black misogyny. In this way, whiteness serves as a cloak that shields White students from the scrutiny and surveillance that Black girls face.” Viola doesn’t have the same surveillance over her that a girl of color would. It would be immature to ignore that truth and it’s effects on other girls stories.

Viola is the ideal girl in the film. She is not only pretty but she is very smart and funny. She is typically not taken seriously because of her femininity. She is labeled silly for her ambitions to play alongside boys. Refinery69 stated, “Despite telling her in private that he thinks she plays better than most guys on his team, he too dismisses Viola, causing her to dump his ass.” Her boyfriend in the beginning of the movie denies his beliefs about Viola being better than his teammates at soccer. This could either be because he is embarrassed that she is better or he

wishes to embarrass her for the sake of keeping her at bay. Within girlhood, it’s common for girls to be shamed for their ambitions and their own gender expression of femininity. It’s clear that in the movie the boys believe the girls should stick to their own team and be “safe” rather than “getting hurt” while playing with the boys. She’s the Man helps us understand girls and girlhoods more by showing the truth of what the girl experience is. Boys shame girls in girlhood and thus creating barriers for the freedoms of women reaching womanhood.

Viola disguises herself as her twin brother Sebastian and starts working to become friends with the guys on campus. She started as an awkward boy but soon became popular and even convinced her handsome roommate, Duke, to help train her in exchange for her help with getting the attention of Olivia, a girl Duke has a crush on. Viola gained popularity by objectification her friends (with their permission of course) in front of Violas (Sebastian’s) school. The idea that Viola disguised as Sebastian, earned social standing by catering to the male gaze and embodying what is means to be a “real man” in their society. In Hear me out: why She’s the Man isn’t a bad movie they state, She’s the Man manages to deliver an important questioning of the toxic social norms that dictate how men and women are meant to act or be treated,.”

This movie is important for a girls culture exhibit because though it is “very white and heteronormative” as The Guardian explains, She’s the Man creates conversations on what it is to be a girl, how to break social norms, and shows the scrutiny behind the male gaze. The movie also helps shape our broader views of girlhood because as mentioned before, being perfect and white is not every girl‘s reality. In our current society it’s important for us to study what has been taught of girlhoods and now we can extend the conversation and expand it to girls of all cultures, all backgrounds able-bodied and disabled girls.

Reference Page

The Disturbing Message At The Heart Of She’s The Man Sadly Still Applies Today by

ANNE COHEN

https://www.refinery29.com/amp/en-us/2020/06/9840156/shes-the-man-dark-amanda-by

nes-sexism

Hear me out: why She’s the Man isn’t a bad movie https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2021/mar/29/hear-me-out-why-shes-the-man-isnt-a-bad

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Carter Andrews, Dorinda J., Tashal Brown, Eliana Castro, and Effat Id-Deen. “The Impossibility of Being ‘Perfect and White’: Black Girls’ Racialized and Gendered Schooling Experiences.” American Educational Research Journal 56, no. 6 (2019): 2531–2572.

Harris, Anita. “Chapter 1: The ‘Can-Do’ Girl versus the ‘At-Risk’ Girl.” Future Girl: Young Women in the Twenty-First Century, 13-35. Routledge, 2004.