I have confidence in confidence

Exactly a week ago today I delivered a speech to inform in my public speaking class that I would like to share with everyone who views my blog. Here is the manuscript form [minus my visual aid, which would be pretty ineffective in this medium]. It didn't turn out exactly this way when I presented, but it went well and I got a 90%. I hope you all like it.



Speech to Inform: Mean Girls and its Implications for American Society

I have a confession to make. One of my favorite movies of all time is most definitely Mean Girls. You know, that 2004 teenage comedy with Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, and Tina Fey. Honestly, my roommate and I watched it every single week last year in Tallahassee, and we could probably quote almost the entire script, given the opportunity. It is an absolutely hilarious film, since Tina Fey wrote it, exhibiting the typical random humor style of Saturday Night Live, as evidenced by a scene in which Tina Fey welcomes a girl she assumes is the “new girl from Africa” because she is black, only to embarrassingly realize that girl is from Michigan. However, another main reason I love this film so much is because it is based on a very important concept, found in a book entitled Queen Bees and Wannabees by Rosalind Wiseman. This book delves into the adolescent girl’s mind to bring clarity to parents who only want the best for their daughters. When Fey read the book, she felt that the message was important enough to communicate through film.

In case you have not seen the film, or need a refresher, I will give you a brief overview of the plot. It centers around Cady Heron, played by Lindsay Lohan, a 16 year old girl who has just started going to public school. Previously, Cady was home-schooled because she was born and raised in Africa by her research zoologist parents. Obviously, she experiences extreme culture shock when she first attends her new school, having to switch between classes and dealing with the stress of finding a group of friends she feels she belongs in. On her second day, Cady becomes friends with Janis and Damian, two “artsy” outsiders in the school. But on her third day, she catches the attention of the popular girls of the school, known as “The Plastics.” She begins hanging out with both groups and is torn between them until Regina, the girl who rules both the Plastics and the school, victimizes her by stealing the boy Cady likes. Janis, Damian, and Cady then plot to undermine Regina and ruin her life in return for all of the evil she has caused previously to everyone who knows her.

There are several concepts explored in this movie that almost all teenagers, and even some young adults, can relate to and recall dealing with at some point or another. When Cady first enters high school, she compares it to the wild environment of Africa, implying that high school functions through survival of the fittest. A huge concept developed in the film is the idea of the group dynamic. When Cady begins hanging out with the Plastics, she is informed of a litany of rules that she must follow in order to maintain good standing in the group. This leads to the root of the problem, founded by women’s uncertainty about who they are as women and what it truly means to be feminine. The Plastics have created a definition and in order to be a part of the group, all its members must adhere to these norms. The foil for Regina is Janis, who dresses in dark clothing and does not try to be feminine. She is confident in her personal identity and seeks other individuals that accept her for who she is, which is something many people can admire, even if they cannot sacrifice their personal social standing for it.

As I mentioned previously, the creation of Mean Girls was inspired by a parenting book by Rosalind Wiseman, called Queen Bees and Wannabees. In an interview on the special features of the film, Wiseman states that some of the central questions she attempts to address in the book include: Why do girls feel that they need to have a boyfriend for validation? Why do girls keep friends that treat them cruelly? Why do girls act dumb or pretend that they are fat when they know these things are not true? Or Why do some girls put up a front and act like they have it all together when they don’t? Wiseman links these urges for relationships with others with the longing for high social status. This longing for status often times conflicts with personal identity. When a person strives for group acceptance, he or she often feels he or she must compromise who he or she is, or learn to function as an outsider. The author also warns that these unhealthy relationships that are built out of insecurities can result in violence. Insecure individuals tear others down to build themselves up. By viewing others as fatter or dumber or less attractive than oneself, people dehumanize other people and start believing that they are less human than themselves. Therefore, they can treat these individuals however they like.

As you can see Mean Girls is an incredibly important film that presents huge societal issues in an attempt to open the eyes of Americans. We as people must learn to love ourselves before we can function healthily in a group. However, this struggle for self-acceptance is sometimes learned after experiencing a life of compromise. Rosalind Wiseman and Tina Fey both believe that women of all ages struggle with the definitions of “womanhood” and “femininity,” and I would like to add that men in America also have difficulty understanding what it means to be a man. These gender identity crises have overlapped into people’s struggles for social standing because no matter how much a person denies it, we all long for high social standing and recognition for our personal validation. American culture thrives on status, which is obtained through hard work, material possessions, and a person’s ability to influence others. But the main idea of this film encourages viewers to learn to be secure in who they are without tearing others down to gain social standing. As stated by Cady in the film, “Calling somebody fat won’t make you any skinnier. Calling someone dumb doesn’t make you any smarter. And ruining Regina George’s life definitely didn’t make me any happier. All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you.”



Quote of the Day:
"Don't let the hatas stop you from doin' yo thang!"
-Kevin G, Mean Girls