Legally Blonde Stereotypes

While at first glance, the novel “Legally Blonde,” by Amanda Brown may seem like nothing more than a couple of words to pass the time for teenaged girls, this novel is actually a really inspirational piece of feminist literature. This novel, through its challenging of gender stereotypes, complex and thought-provoking characters, and accurate portrayal of how it feels to have people question intellectual capability as a direct result of femininity being shown, teaches everyone in the audience to acknowledge that there’s often more than meets the eye, and to question why our society assumes superficiality when seeing a woman who likes to do traditionally feminine things such as going shopping and getting her nails done.

In Legally Blonde,

a girl named Elle Woods who likes wearing Chanel on her eyelashes, and wearing the hottest shade of pink on her nails, and has a boyfriend, gets the entire course of her life turned around when someone which she thought of as the love of her life breaks up with her. “We’re not going to be together forever, Elle. You know that. It was a sweet thought, but I’ve decided to turn around and get serious. (Brown 6)” Warner, through his words, was hinting at the fact that he doesn’t think Elle is smart enough to be a life partner for him. After three years of getting to know this capable, assertive, and beautiful woman, he still doesn’t see her worth. So, in an effort to win Warner back, she decides to enroll into Stanford and work to become a lawyer. No one ever takes her seriously because of how she looks, especially at Stanford, and she gets fed up with it. While everyone she meets roll their eyes at a real-life Barbie attending Stanford Law, she proves them all wrong and ends up winning her case by using her personal experience and knowledge which she wouldn’t have if she weren’t a girly-girl. She is able to succeed not by disgracing who she is, but instead by embracing it and using her particular talents and interests to become the best lawyer she can be. A particular example of this is when she came back from the LSAT feeling positive. “…Elle was positively beaming as she emerged from the LSAT. Not only were the required sections a breeze, but the extra section, ‘Logic Games,’ allowed her to use what she considered to be among her greatest strengths: abstract organization. Ever since high school Elle had been a wiz at seating arrangements for parties, saving events that could have been diversity disasters without her strategic social skills. (Brown 12)”
Elle Woods is an exceptional role model.

Although from the minute she walks into the halls of Stanford Law School, people are constantly talking about her behind her back and spouting rude comments, she remains positive and doesn’t use that as an excuse to treat them badly. Even when people tell her to her face that they view her as being inferior, she still treats them nicely. She engages in conversation with people vastly different from her and she views everyone as her equal. She doesn’t judge anyone by their appearance, even when they all actively judge her by hers. Although Elle Woods initially only applied to law school because she wanted to win Warner back, after coming to the realization that he viewed her as inferior, like practically everyone else, her initiative changes. She decides that she should succeed for herself, not to earn the approval of

others.
One of the remarkable things about Legally Blonde is that people’s reaction to the work of literature distinctly proves the point the author is attempting to make!

Most people, at first glance, will make comments about how she probably dresses provocatively, or make judgement calls about how intelligent she is by reading about her luminous disposition. People in regards to both Legally Blonde and the real world, are constantly making instant judgements about girls who decide to wear clothes that make them feel good about themselves, and girls who do feminine things because they like to do feminine things, and this book is actively trying to counter that. To say that it is uncommon to see such ideas in literature would surely be an understatement. Even when reading Legally Blonde, many will still think lowly of Elle Woods, even though she’s an accomplished and highly intelligent lawyer-to-be who still keeps her dignity and stays true to herself even when times get

tough.
This novel touches up on many ideas which seem to thrive in media. One, of which, is the notion that people who like traditionally feminine things are malicious, superficial, and unintelligent. It would have been completely possible for the author to change Elle’s attitude about life, or what kinds of clothes she wears, after Elle decides to reinvent herself as a serious law student, but the author doesn’t change fundamental aspects of who Elle is.
In a wide variety of media, such as Clueless, Friends, The Clique, That 70s Show, Modern Family, A Fault in Our Stars, The L Word, Black-ish, and more, feminine characters are consistently written as flat, uninteresting, and as less important than the ever-so-loved “tomboy” female character. Now, while it’s great to see that female characters who like untraditional things are written so well in the media, it’s important to ask ourselves why we’re taught to find masculine characters so much more complex and exciting than feminine characters.
Another problem which is addressed in this novel is old men which actively make sexual advances on young women they perceive as foolish. In this novel, Elle Woods gets an internship spot solely because the advisor wishes to sleep with her. Imagine how devastating this must feel to experience. Elle Woods, through great difficulty, finally feels like she’s gotten the hang of things when she finds out that she has grabbed one of the coveted internship spots. After all of the work she has put into her upcoming degree, she finally feels like her hard work has paid off. Then, suddenly, she has to face the reality that her supervisor thinks of her as being nothing more than someone to have sexual relations with. He hints at an ultimatum: If Elle wants to be in the internship program, she’ll have to give him what he wants. She’ll have to sacrifice her body, and everything that she’s worked for, for someone who thinks of her as nothing more than a piece of fresh meat. He thinks of her the exact same way that most people do. What does Elle do with this? What could she possibly do to get where she wants? She drops her spot immediately. She gets out of the internship program, she runs away from the predatory old man, and with the help of some of the friends she made by treating everyone nicely, wins the case by using what she’s learned in her training. She does what many people would be too scared to do: she makes it on her own.
This phenomenal novel works to help train the most vulnerable audience, insecure teenage girls, to help themselves strive for something better. In this book, the audience looks at Elle Woods, struggling to see her own worth, and they can relate. The impressionable teenagers reading this novel, and possibly watching the movie, will see aspects of themselves. They will see that they shouldn’t have to sacrifice the things that they love in order to be taken seriously. They will see that even when others treat them badly, that they should respond with compassion. They will be shown the way to potentially challenge their own internalized misogyny, and question why they feel prejudiced against those who exude femininity. The author shows us that when people stop making first impressions worth more than actually getting to know someone, they’re able to not only open up the possibilities for potential friends, but also learn the skills they need to become more true to who they are. Through this novel’s conveying of vital concepts, and the phenomenally written female characters, this novel is a key piece of feminist literature that many people could learn a lesson or two from.