Mean Girls

Mean Girls is a film released in 2004 directed by Mark Waters. It is about a girl named Cady Heron who moves to America after being home schooled in Africa for the majority of her life. She starts at high school where she is introduced to some very interesting people.  This is a very good film to show the representation and stereotyping of teenage girls within society and in general.

 

Dialogue is a very clear feature used to show the representation of teenage girls in the media, and how they are represented in this film. The way dialogue is used can show just how a particular character or person is feeling and bring out their personality very clearly, which in this case helps to understand the exact image of teenage girls in this media. One of the most well-known quotes from Mean Girls is “She’s fabulous, but she’s evil”, spoken by Damian about another main character called Regina George. The costumes used in this film are very significant too. The majority of clothes worn by the focusing group ‘The Plastics’ is pink which brings out a major stereotype in teenage girls. When the group dresses up for Halloween, one very particular quote represents exactly what is thought of the situation. Cady, in a voiceover, says: “In the regular world, Halloween is when children dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” This shows us how costumes are shown to represent the different girls in the film and representation we are receiving about them.  Language is the final key feature from the film.  This includes the style used by the characters, and the type of vocabulary which they tended to often speak.

 

The representation addressed in this film is that girls are quite bitchy and backstabbing. It is meant to show it through the eyes of Cady Heron, and it definitely comes across as we watch her character develop. The effect this can have on teenage girls is that they start to feel that they have to act in this way, or they feel they can relate too much to this. The society will start to view teenage girls as often being bitchy and backstabbing. There is a large focus on different boys and secret keeping as well, the impact on this being that girls start to behave in that way themselves, and that it perhaps is okay to act like that. This particularly is shown as the end is happy, and everyone has it all sorted out, which doesn’t prove the point that being nasty helps and that being nasty actually will get you places. This is one very strong stereotype of teenage girls – that they are all bitchy and backstabbing, instead of being opposite.

 

The reality in this case is that there are always dramas; however the sorts of drama created in this film are not nearly as bad compared to what they would be like in true life. The reason for the difference to be shown in this film is perhaps make the message a lot more clear about being nasty to fellow peers and friends, in particular with teenage girls.  These messages are created in order to almost prove a point in a way, about teenage girls and the way they behave. The use of the clothing and the behaviour of the girls in this film reinforce these bitchy connotations about teenage girls, and the way they all act in a way to gain popularity, instead of just being known as themselves and not thriving to be known. This is shown especially through when the different girls from differentgroups represented in the film talk about who the most popular girl is.

 

The consequences of these representations of teenage girls in the film Mean Girls is that society will be able to view teenage girls in this way, it is quite a strong and important message that comes across. This representation on teenage girls is quite strong and Mean Girls has a very impacting image making-way of stereotyping teenage girls. This will always have further impacts on society and also on the way teenage girls view themselves.

 

Music Video

This is a music video by Selena Gomez, called ‘Come and Get It’. It only stars Selena Gomez in it however it does reflect a lot about the representation of teenage girls and the impacts this could potentially have on them and their personal views on themselves. Selena Gomez is an actress/singer that is very well-known amongst teenagers. She is looked up to by many and therefore her actions and the representation she displays is a clear example of teenagers in the media. In her music video for ‘Come and Get It’ there are numerous features which help to establish these connotations of teenage girls.

The first feature that helps the media establish a representation is the use of costume. In the music video Selena is dressed in very raunchy outfits that show off her small feminine body. Her make-up is heavy and with very heavy mascara and eyeliner to draw attention to her eyes with bright red lips to deliver a very sexy look. This will provide a negative effect on teenage girls as they will aspire to be the same weight and wear the same sort of clothing as her. The stereotype in play is that teenage girls have to be sexy to look good and while Selena Gomez is now an older person in their lives, rather than a mid-teen, but she is still someone of significant importance to the representation of teenage girls. This makes this feature and representation here not very accurate and fair, considering the fact that teenagers don’t necessarily dress in tight bodices with flowing, see-through skirts. She is viewed as a teenager still, and her representation of one in this music video wouldn’t be seen as young and natural, rather as one that is trying to act as a grown-up, which is one very negative representation that could be taken from this.

The second feature used in this music video is the camera shots. Instead of using shots which would make Selena look younger and more of a teenager, they used ones that had close-ups on different parts of her body that may have more serious connotations towards sexual images rather than innocent teenagers. There are numerous close-ups on her bright red lips, which is very seductive and not something a typical teenage girl would wear. This can show us that the representation this music video may be getting across about teenage girls is how they want to act older than they are and that perhaps they aren’t content with being their age. Due to many camera angles and shots showing off Selena’s more feminine parts and showing a much sexier side, this could be proof from the media that teenage girls are becoming less innocent with their actions and in particular the way they are portrayed. These representations are clearly negative and also not at all true concerning what teenage girls are like. The reasons for these types of connotations coming through could be due to many things in today’s society, including the way girls behave, and the way they are starting to act and dress. This will not help with the assumptions made regarding stereotyping teenage girls within today’s society. The reality is that no one actually acts in that way in real life compared to what is portrayed in the music video.

The third and final feature used in the music video is the lighting. Generally associated with bright pink colours and whites and usually light happy colours are what teenage girls, or at least younger teenage girls are stereotyped as, the lighting in this music video are not very bright. They have used many dark colours and occasionally contrast with background light coming in, like in a few shots the sun is rising in the background and that is the intended light of the shot. The rest of the time, the lighting is very moody and often quite dark.  This results in a representation for teenage girls being produced that they are very moody, grumpy and dark characters, which once again is an incorrect stereotype. It is a strong stereotype that teenagers are moody and quite often grumpy however, just because this music video is reinforcing that does not mean it is true. This will result in society perceiving teenage girls as being moody and grumpy whereas that is not necessarily exactly what they are, at least not all of them. The lighting was obviously used in the video to create a more mysterious feel, along with the emotions that being in darker colours will bring on.  The representation results in the stereotype of teenage girls being moody and grumpy people as opposed to happy, which it is likely as an unrealistic stereotype.

Creme Magazine

In the magazine Creme there are different interpretations to be taken about teenage girls. Whilst the focus isn’t necessarily about teenage girls, it is a magazine intended for them to be their audience, which gives across an image that perhaps isn’t realistic and a typical stereotype.

 

The type of representation we are getting for girls can be covered by being both negative and positive. If you look at the front cover of the magazine, the featured cover-girl is Taylor Swift. To younger teenage girls, such as 13-14 year olds she is a very innocent person, and the clothes she is wearing are quite laid back and not overly fancy or intimidating. Her make-up is very relaxed and her jewellery is simple. This is one way to make this magazine have a positive effect on the representation of teenage girls. However when you look at the articles and even Taylor Swift again, a lot of connotations could be quite negative. Taylor Swift has blonde hair with blue eyes and pale skin, which is typically a ‘perfect girl’. It could also take us back in history to Hitler’s demand or idea of the perfect race of people, who had blonde hair and blue eyes which again is a pressure and representation of teenage girls; that they have to be perfect in order to be successful. The colours on the front of the magazine revolve around pinks, white and with a hint of blue as well. These colours are definitive girly-girl colours, and are also reinforcing the idea that you need to be pink and pretty in order to be the definition of an ideal girl. The articles advertised on the front cover of the magazine are also indications of the representation of teenage girls. Alongside the title (Creme), it also says “A girl’s best friend” which is a strong indication that in order to be a ‘cool’ girl, you have to own this magazine. Five out of the eight articles advertised on the front cover involve celebrities. This shows us that teenage girls are constantly needing the celebrities to look up to and aspire to be like. Inside the magazine, there are many articles and adverts revolving around clothes and other beauty products. There are numerous articles which also double up as adverts for clothing and other sorts of things. However the clothing in these articles are priced at unreasonable levels, and are not typically something that teenage girls would be able to afford.

The effect of Taylor Swift’s make-up being quite relaxed and simple, along with her clothes, results in teenage girls feeling that they don’t have to dress and wear a ton of make-up in order to be the ‘perfect’ girl to society. This is a very positive outcome in an otherwise quite unrealistic magazine. The rest of the cover however, does not give similar effects. The fact that Taylor Swift has the perfect skin that is pale with blonde hair and blue eyes, while also looking very stunning the way she is, in an almost natural look, this doesn’t help with the ideas that teenage girls can gather. The representation of this can result in teenage girls wanting to naturally be like her, and because not everyone naturally is like that, it results in a want that is too difficult to fulfil. It also gives society the effect or image that teenage girls are supposed to be like Taylor Swift. To society, by presenting the magazine in pink and white (very girly colours) this just gives off the connotation that they love the colour pink and that every girl out there likes pink, which really is just a false judgement. When the clothes advertised in the magazine are priced at prices which are far too high for a normal teenage girl, this results in beauty or the representation of being a perfect teenage girl unattainable for them to achieve. The effect of this is a let-down for girls not being to successfully be the media’s idea of a normal, attractive and stylish teenage girl.

This is can be used in comparison to magazines Madison where the focus is more on older teenagers,

heading into their twenties. The covers feature girls/women looking more sexy rather than Taylor Swift looking young and girl-like. The focus on these magazines is more about fashion, and health. So it is a focus on dieting and exercise plans. This is not directed at teenage girls which is a good thing because it would give an even worse representation for them. It would give an image that is even more unattainable for their age.

 

The representation of teenage girls that could be interpreted from this magazine would not be seen as realistic or accurate. It is not likely that every teenage girl loves the colour pink, or has a fascination for certain celebrities. They wouldn’t typically be able to afford the clothes advertised constantly in the magazine. This makes this magazine a bad representation of teenage girls, and reflects that the media doesn’t necessarily have their images about this group in the correct context.



Stereotypes

Stereotyping is used on groups as an assumption or a widely-known idea about what those particular groups are like.

We stereotype when we assume a group is a particular way. The reason we do this is to relate those groups to particular behaviours or characteristics so that we can create a typical image that is well-known to many audiences.

 

The media uses stereotypes in order to create an image for that particular group. Stereotypes help audiences to relate to the story, and they become well-known to everyone so they are aware of what the media is talking about.