Stereotypes In Mean Girls

In the article from Newsela, “Popularity Is No Shield To School Bullies”, teens bully other students because they are jealous. The University of California and Penn State University performed research on teens in nineteen, North Carolina schools. The scientists Robert Faris and Diane Felmlee interviewed 8,000 teens about their connections with bullying. They found unexpected results. Teens just want to be recognized by the “cool” teens.

The movie “mean girls” is about a sixteen-year old homeschooled girl named Cady Heron who lived in Africa for the last 12 years of her life. After 12 years she returns to the United States and is now going to High school. Attending public school for the first time in her life. The homeschooled girl entered girl world that is full of lies, drama, gossip, boys and rules. She started hanging out with the “Plastics” and become friends with. The movie showed many example of conflict management styles, it reflects on the American culture values and beliefs, and power style.

The movie Mean Girls is filled with characters that are easy to relate with, quotable lines, and a hilarious but realistic plot line. One other major thing that the movie has is concepts of the development that occurs during late adolescences including social, emotional, and cognitive development. Mean Girls is about a girl named Cady that is attending a public high school for the first time after being home schooled in Africa for all of her life. She knows nothing of the American teenage culture or customs or about the public school system. During her first week of school Cady becomes friends with two people in one of her classes named Janis and Damien, who unbeknownst to her are a part of the

"Mean Girls", based on the book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" written by Rosalind Wiseman, was produced by Paramount Pictures in 2004. (Walters 2004, Wiseman 2002) The leading star, 15 year-old Cady Heron (Lindsey Lohan), recently moved to the suburbs of Illinois after being home schooled in Africa by her zoologist parents. During her first day of public high school, Cady befriends two teenager outcasts, Janice Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese). They supply Cady with a map of North Shore High School in order to educate her to the 21 different cliques within the school. Even more, warning Cady to stay away from the "worst people you will ever meet", The Plastics. Which was comprised of three girls: Gretchen Wieners, a girl who's rich because her father invented toaster strudel; Karen Smith, the "dumbest girl you will ever meet"; and Regina George, "queen bee" the unofficial leader and the meanest one. The Plastics take an interest in Cady and invite her to join them, Cady is very unsure of this. She discusses this with Janice and Damian and they convince

This paper will provide a sociological analysis of Mean Girls broken down into two sections. Section one will explain why a sociologist would find the movie interesting, examining the movie from a functionalist perspective, providing an example of private troubles and public issues, and comparing the movie to North American culture. Section two will discuss the themes of socialization and culture by explaining terms related to each section and applying them to the movie.

In the film “Mean Girls” there were many types of peer relationships expressed. Friendships are described as a reciprocal liking, trust, and loyalty between all participating dyadic parties. An example in the film is the relationship that Damian and Janis hold because they are loyal to each other and the liking is mutual. Peer acceptance is to the degree one is liked by their peers. In the film Aaron Samuels is very much liked by his peers. Perceived popular is a child that is considered popular based on their peers’ perceptions. Regina George is a prime example of teenage girl perceived as popular. When students described Regina George in the film these type of comments were made, “Regina George is flawless”, “One time she punched me in the faced. It was awesome.”, and “she always looks fierce.” Cliques are polyadic social groups that are voluntary. A main clique in the movie is “The Plastics” which consists of Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. These forms of peer relationships are a lot more complex than just a group of friends, these relationships of dynamic in early adolescence.

The teen comedy Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters, welcomes the protagonist (Cady Heron) into the stereotypical high school setting after being raised in Africa for all of her educational path. Cady, never being in a public-school setting, comes across the Plastics: Regina George (unspoken leader), Gretchen Wieners (gossip queen), and Karen Smith (the stupid, clueless one), who are at the top of the social pyramid. Befriended by the girls, Cady is left to decide whether or not she belongs in this clique or if her place exists in a different one. The use of satirist and comedic scenes throughout the film show the different sexist lenses and stereotypes that women are viewed with.

Stereotype; a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. In the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, and in the short story, “Geeks Bearing Gifts”, written by Ron Koertge, stereotypes are defied by ordinary people. In The Outsiders, Johnny Cade and Darry Curtis face many struggles throughout their lives. Their town in separated into two: the rich and dangerous Socs, and the quiet, tough Greasers. For them, living dangerously is a reality. As a result of their lifestyle, Johnny has become fearful and Darry is considered the toughest man in the gang. In “Geeks Bearing Gifts” aspiring journalist, Renee, interviews her fellow classmates who are classified as “outcasts.” After meeting several students, she realizes her assumptions were incorrect about them. After reading both of these stories, the reader learns that our thoughts about others often revolve around stereotypes and assumptions, but most of these ideas that we have about other people are proven wrong.

The movie Mean Girls follows Cady Heron as she experiences high school for the first time in her life. As she is thrown into a new society, this film provides the opportunity to socially analyze high school. From figuring out her new culture and society that she is engrossed in to realizing how social status can both negatively and positively affect her values and beliefs, there are many concepts that Cady learns and is taught as she makes her way through her first year of public school.

Stereotypically, men and women have very different roles in the eyes of society. Gender roles and stereotypes have a history in religious, political, legal and economic systems. In reality, men and women are more alike than most people assume. Throughout the world there are struggles with identity, power, and violence occurring everyday between both men and women. The film Mean Girls, directed by Mark Walters, follows a young girl, Cady’s, transition from being home schooled to public high school. Cady enters the school’s group of mean girls, otherwise known as “the plastics”, which consists of Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. Throughout the film each character struggles with their true identity.

According to the videos "Mean Girls" and "Type of Kids in HighSchool" on YouTube, I can see that racist and stereotypes still existed. These video show us how people use their stereotypes and force others to follow their prejudices by judging and mocking when someone is different. It is not fair, we have the right to decide and do what we like, but within limits. This video shows us a typical and very practical example of high school. This video also analyzes that there are many types of stereotypes that occur in young people in high school, such as the nerd, hipster, gangster, emo ...

The story that Bully shares are about five youths who get heavily perpetrated by cruel acts, that end them up in unhealthy situations. The characters possess different qualities: racial backgrounds, sexual identities or medical challenges. Furthermore discussing the problem of the ongoing need to belong somewhere, yet not being truthful to oneself. This brings into consideration of the parents and school administration. School is tough as it is, yet a handful of people make it worse by unfairly treating someone based on superficial reasoning. Mean Girls tells a story of Cady Heron, who moves to North Shore high school after a twelve-year research trip in Africa, she is forced to assimilate into the American culture, one she is unfamiliar with. In the process of making friends, she gets involved with the problematic clique, The Plastics.

A majority of bullying takes place during our elementary or in high school.. Peer pressure is reported to be a frequent reason as to why students feel the need to bully their peers. Many people have experienced bullying in some way throughout their lifetime. Some people were victims of bullying, while others were the ones doing the bullying, or in some cases, they were both. It isn’t rare to hear that

Bullying is a transpiring issue that many teenagers and children have to struggle with, they endure harassing behaviours from their peers, primarily at school. Mean Girls directed by Mark Waters and Bully directed by Lee Hirsch are both effective in their own ways, as they display the causes and effects of being picked on. Although there are many similarities in the message in the films, they differ in the way they deliver it. The characters possess different qualities about them; racial background, sexual identities or medical challenges, furthermore discussing the problem of the ongoing need to belong somewhere, yet not comprising oneself to do so, this brings in the concern of the parents and school administration. Cruel intended

What appears to be bullying is not always bullying. There is this misconception that when someone disagrees with another person or is hurtful towards that person, bullying always seems to be what they say is going on. Although statistics shows that one in four kids are bullied, all aggressive actions are not bullying. If a person has self-esteem and self confidence in themselves and not let others tear you down the imbalance of power is balanced. Bullies have more power over their victims and always want to be on top. They enjoy displaying the power they have over their victim.