Queer Theory In Mean Girls

In this blog post I will be discussing the Queer Theory in the first 20minutes of the film 'Mean Girls'.

In the first 20minutes of Mean Girls the different characters are introduced to the audience. As each character was introduced, the audience automatically stereotyped them because of the way they look, their voice tone and how they act. The two characters that were stereotyped were the gay best friend and the butch lesbian which are known as Janice and Damien.

The character Damien was first introduced when Cady started her first day at high school, and asks her about her hair colour. This is very unusual for a male character to ask about a girls hair colour. As he asked Cady about her hair colour the audience automatically stereotypes his character as a homosexual. He can also be stereotyped as a homosexual because he wears bright clothing and uses girly hand gestures when he is speaking. As the film went on his stereotype as a homosexual is proven more to the audience for example; Damien uses the girls bathroom at school instead of the males bathroom. Another example is when Cady asks Janice and Damien if they have any clothing which is pink and Damien instantly replies 'yes'. The other stereotyped character in Mean girls is the butch lesbian which is known as Janice best friends with Damien. Janice is known as this stereotype because she wears all dark clothing and all of her body is covered up with clothing. She is different to the other girls in the school because they are dressed in pink and showing more of their body by wearing less clothing. Also when Cady asks her and Damien if they have any pink clothing, Janice instantly replies ''No''. She can also be stereotyped as a butch lesbian because of the way she talks to other people in the school as she has a deeper voice compared to the other girls and the language she used to other students is not ladylike.

These stereotypes are seen differently to other characters because all the other girls in the school are wearing less clothing compared to Janice such as short shirts and low cut tops and they were all dressed in feminine colours such as bright colours, mainly pink. The other girls also had more feminine and high pitched voices compared to Janice as she had a deeper voice. All the other male characters in this film were talking about girls and football. They were also wearing darker clothing whereas Damien wears brighter clothing and talks about clothes and different hair colours. This is proven in the first 20 minutes of mean Girls because he comments on Cady's hair colour and lends a pink top to her.

The issues I think these stereotyped characters have in this film is that they're on the outside of the other groups in the school and no one wanted to socialise with them because they are known as the outsiders. Another issue is the representation of the stereotyped characters because it may offend the audience watching this film because some men that are homosexual don't act all girly and not all lesbians cover all their body with clothing and wear dark clothing.