Intersectional Gender Analysis

The representation of the multifaceted lives and identities of womanhood is crucial in our society for constructing the ideals of femininity. Poor representation of womanhood through discriminatory stereotypes creates unrealistic and harmful ideals of womanhood for the young girls of today’s society. In the heteronormative patriarchy presented in Amy Heckerling’s film, Clueless, femininity is discriminatorily portrayed as primarily revolving around and serving men, placing heavy emphasis on the importance of physical appearance through stereotypes such as the damsel in distress and the dumb blonde.

The position of women in society, as illustrated by Clueless, is presented primarily in relation to men, reinforcing a heteropatriarchal society and shallowly negative female stereotypes. Heteropatriarchy refers to “an overarching system of male dominance through the institution of compulsory heterosexuality” (Yep 221). In Clueless this is illustrated by the female stereotypes presented, embodying the uneven power relation that exists between males and females, where women hold less power as individuals and as partners in a straight relationship in comparison to their male counterparts (Yep 221). Many of these sexist stereotypes are depicted in the film, including, but not limited to, the damsel in distress, the role of women solely as serving men, the sexual objectification of women for the pleasure of men, and female identity and happiness deriving from heterosexual relationships. The archetype of the damsel in distress is embodied multiple times in the film, most significantly by Cher’s rescue from a personal robbery by none other than Josh, her love interest. This representation of womanhood reinforces the heteropatriarchal stereotype of women as weak, vulnerable, and unable to help themselves, but rather in need of a man’s help. This harmful portrayal demonstrates how the unequal power relation between men and women in society results in the representation of inferiority of one gender over another. The next stereotype portrayed presents the traditional feminine role as to be providing service to men, as “for what makes a woman is a specific social relationship to a man” (Alcoff 82). This is exemplified many times through Cher’s relationships with the men in her life – not only does Cher takes care of her father by monitoring his diet, talking to his doctor, planning his outfits, etc., but she fulfills the discriminatory stereotype of women being in the kitchen as she believes: “whenever a boy comes you should always have something baking” (Clueless). In a gender-segregated society, Clueless reinforces the traditional female roles of “caregiver, helpmate, and nurturer… providing service to men” (Alcoff 82). Another way in which conventional ideologies about femininity are reinforced in the film, focusing on “the domestic and personal”, is through the portrayed image that female happiness is obtained through straight relationships (Milestone and Meyer 87). The entire film centers around love and relationships, particularly that of Cher’s, Tai’s, and Dionne’s, portraying heterosexual romance and love as “the essence and meaning of life for girls” (Milestone and Meyer 87). Finally, womanhood and female identity is sexualized and objectified by the heteropatriarchy for the purpose and pleasure of the men. In Clueless this is shown in Cher’s relationship tricks: “anything you can do to draw attention to your mouth is good. Also, sometimes you have to show a little skin. This reminds a guy of being naked, and then they think of sex” (Clueless). Cher also demonstrates this through the types of dresses she choices to wear to impress Christian, her romantic interest: “looks like underwear” (Clueless). This stereotype discriminatorily sexually objectifies women by portraying their bodies and sexualities as the property of men, meant to serve their needs.

Likewise, Clueless places a heavy emphasis on the importance of physical appearance to femininity, failing to recognize the importance of intellect and achievement, creating certain beauty ideals, especially for young females. The movie presents social worth and status on the basis on physical appearance, the “cool” girls being more beautiful and fashionable than the others. Cher especially demonstrates her strong focus and concern of appearance through many different ways throughout the film: her extensive wardrobe, her virtual wardrobe, her diet books, her exercise routine, her diet choices, etc. Cher’s strong concern about appearance, and little concern about intelligence and achievement embodies the sexist stereotype of the “dumb blonde”. Dumb blondes are characterized by “her hair colour, sexuality and lack of intellect” (Milestone and Meyer 94). Cher is seen to embody the “dumb” aspect of this stereotype through her poorly researched work: “the topic is Haiti and she is talking about some little party” (Clueless). This harmful stereotype not only “reproduces gender ideologies by defining women through their appearance and bodies rather than their occupations or achievements” but also “reaffirms men’s intellectual superiority”, and legitimizes their dominance in contemporary society (Milestone and Meyer 96). However, this beauty ideal is not held the same for every class and age. The pressures to maintain a certain appearance differs depending on class and age: “pressures to look good have not only been extended to men but also to groups of women previously thought of as asexual, such as mothers or older women” (Milestone and Meyer 97). In Clueless, this is demonstrated by the fact that older, authoritative figures such as teachers are held at a much lower standard. The same goes for social class, in Clueless those who are of lower class are only expected to have a lower standard of physical appearance. The result of such negative and stereotypical representation to modern society is the creation of unhealthy, unrealistic beauty ideals for young women. The lack of multifaceted female lives set an extremely narrow ideal for young girls to live up to.

“Cher’s main thrill in life is a makeover” (Clueless)

The heteropatriarchal society presented in Amy Heckerling’s film, Clueless, negatively portrays femininity as revolving primarily around and serving men, placing heavy emphasis on beauty ideals and physical appearance. Such portrayals of femininity are embodied through stereotypes such as the dumb blonde and the damsel in distress. This poor representation of the multifaceted lives of womanhood results in a very stereotypical, and narrow ideal of womanhood for young girls to look up to.

Word Count: 1002

By: Sinta O’Connor

 

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Works Cited

Alcoff, Linda M. et al. “Intersectionality.” Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices 4^th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 77-103. Print.

Milestone, Katie, and Anneke Meyer. Gender & Popular Culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2012.

Yep, Gust and Allen Conkle. The New Gay Domesticity: Homonormativity in ABC’s Brothers and Sisters.” Race/Gender/ Class/ Media 3.0: Considering Diversity across Audiences, Content, and Producers, 3^rd ed. Ed. Rebecca Ann Lind. New Jersey: Pearson, 2013. 218-224. Print.