Legally Blonde, The Film That Taught Me That My Femininity Does Not Define My Success

On the surface, Legally Blonde is just another Mean Girls, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, teen movie. All of those movies have their place, but Legally Blonde surpasses them in a way that most people don’t seem to acknowledge. It’s a film I would watch as a child, and not quite understand why I was so captivated by it, hanging on to every second wide-eyed. It’s just a light-hearted rom-com is it not? Yes, but it also has a deeper message that being successful doesn’t have to cost you the things you like about yourself. You can be feminine, and silly, and bring fluffy pencils to class, and still be respected and accomplished.

I got to see myself reflected in parts of Elle Woods, and it shaped the way I viewed my own worth.

If you’re not familiar with Legally Blonde then my first point is: go watch it. It’s not going to exhaust you mentally with plot twists and brutality, it’s fun and colourful and sweet. Go watch it in your pyjamas under a blanket, and let yourself relax and watch something that exists purely for positivity. If you haven’t seen it, or need a little reminder, Legally Blonde is about a sorority girl named Elle Woods, played by the fantastic Reese Witherspoon. After her budding law student boyfriend dumps her, she decides that the only way to win him back is to get into Harvard law school and prove to him she’s more than just a ‘dumb blonde’. Upon arrival at Harvard, she comes to the realisation that she’s not like everyone else there, and that the things her sorority sisters praised her for make her the laughing stock of the law students. Her ex’s new girlfriend Vivian is everything she thinks she should become, serious, and studious and wearing a lot of grey. Over the course of the film, she goes from being Vivian’s rival to her friend and realises that now she’s found a passion in law may be getting back with her boyfriend isn’t so important after all. Of course, there are other romances, and wardrobe malfunctions, and games of beer pong, but the broad arc is one of growth for Elle Woods. It’s a makeover movie like no other, where instead of cutting her hair and changing her clothes, she changes the way she views herself and forces the world to change the way they view her. Too often the plot of a movie implies that the key to self-love and finding the acceptance of others is to alter yourself to find the expectations of others. Legally Blonde tells you the opposite, stick to your guns and challenge the assumptions others may make about you.

There’s an odd contradiction around femininity in our society. On one hand, it allows you to fit into the standards that are generally expected of women. Putting on makeup and a delicate dress generally means that people view you with a certain acceptance, you’ve ticked the boxes of what people think ‘woman’ looks like. The downside is that people still have a certain condemnation for femininity. Take a look at men who wear makeup, or put on a skirt. Why is it considered so demeaning by many? Because it’s feminine. The insult is always “Stop acting like a girl”, “Stop throwing like a girl”.

Femininity is what the world expects of you, but they will also demean you for it.

Even fellow feminists will accuse you of being complicit in patriarchal standards, of caving to social pressure to make yourself attractive to men. Maybe I am, they might well be right. But why is it on me to overthrow hundreds of years of patriarchy? I like dying my hair blonde, I like filling my room with frivolously soft things or wearing stupid amounts of dusky pink clothing. It brings me joy, and not every second of my life has to be spent on some sort of activism. It’s not my job to dismantle sexism, so leave me be to enjoy the feminine things that I love. Legally Blonde embodies that in such a perfect way. Elle Woods has a room full of pink sparkly thing and a chihuahua that gets carried around in her handbag. She turns up to costume parties in bunny ears and writes in a heart-shaped notebook. She’s unapologetically and overwhelming feminine. Yet, she supports and compliments the other girls who have different taste, and they grow to respect her in turn.

In a scene towards the end of the film, Elle meets with her mentor and professor only for him to make an inappropriate advance on her, and tell her that she was only chosen for his mentorship scheme because he was attracted to her. This destroys Elle’s confidence, pushing her back to the mentality that maybe she is nothing more than just the ‘dumb blonde’ everyone thought she was. I think this insecurity speaks to something a lot of young women feel. When you’re made to feel like appearance is your primary offering to the world it can be hard to feel like you have value in other ways. With ‘Imposter Syndrome’ getting more and more attention, people are beginning to realise that it’s a common feeling amongst women, that you’ve snuck your way in and are soon to be found out. That you don’t really deserve the success you’ve obtained, you’ve just stolen it using heels and eyeliner. The great thing about Legally Blonde is that Elle Woods doesn’t thrive because of male sympathy, she carves success for herself through dedication and gritted teeth. She works tirelessly to get the grades for Harvard and then works tirelessly to stay. She is shown as successful because of her own perseverance, not luck or charm or beauty.

The grand finale of the film takes place in court, with Elle defending a former sorority sister against a murder charge. This is a bit of a spoiler, so skip to the line below if you haven’t watched it yet. The thing that wins Elle the case is her femininity. She knows that the witness committed the crime based on her in-depth knowledge of perms, and uses that to undermine her entire testimony. Her knowledge of something ‘superficial’ like hair styling works as a springboard, it’s then her critical thinking that brings her to success. That’s the point I’m trying to drive home here, is that this film isn’t a story of dumb luck, it’s about how if you work really hard and refuse to give up, you can succeed.

Elle Woods is the instigator of everything that happens in her narrative arc, rather than a passive recipient of circumstance.

That’s a message I think we should be shouting from the rooftops.

In summary, thank you, Reese Witherspoon, for giving me a character who means a lot to me. I realise this is very gushy for a film that is ultimately a rom-com teen movie, but sometimes it’s the simple things that mean the most to us. What film taught you something about yourself?

Get a good night’s sleep, remember sunscreen, treat yourself with kindness. Until next time, take care of yourself. x

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Queer Eye: Destroying Toxic Masculinity One Face Mask At A Time – Why I Love A Quiet Place – Bond Girls and Bechdel Tests: The Silence of Women in Film