Legally Blonde: Bend and Snap

Warning: Spoilers.

Andrea Dworkin in her book Our Blood writes, in describing the history of women, that: “…ladies were trained to mental and moral idiocy. Any display of intelligence compromised a lady’s value as an ornament. Any assertion of principles will contradicted her master’s definition of her as a decorative object”. It is no coincidence that it is a modern day stereotype that blonde women – the idealised woman in the West – are seen as stupid. It is as it has always been that women are not allowed both beauty and brains. Yes there is too the stereotype of an athletic airhead male but when men are admired for their strength, athleticism, and skills on the modern day battle field that is a sports field then it is hardly comparable. It is after finishing Our Blood that I decided to review Legally Blonde, realising that whilst times may change some things stay the same.

Legally Blonde – based on a book by a woman, with the screenplay done by two women – is a triumph of a film that aimed to break stereotypes as its main concept. It’s writers understood that it is far too simplistic to simply assume that there are many beautiful women who don’t try to be educated, who are superficial and that this is all there is to them. I remember as a teenager scolding myself for ever thinking that my friends who wore make up, obsessed over clothes, or who focused on looking good for the opposite sex were anything less than I was. I found myself realising that it is absurd to think that women can’t care about how they look and their grades simultaneously. Nothing will break that stereotype like having the popular pretty girls in the top classes with you.

As I watched the film I saw Elle display many talents and a breadth of knowledge that I simply do not have in any way shape or form. She has an understanding of fabric – from the type of material to the type of stitch that would damage it – in a way that I would one day hope to have as an amateur seamstress. She is confident, courageous, and I envy both of those characteristics as someone who is anxious more than anything. The women around her, too portrayed as superficial – a gendered term – display the skill of speaking another language, of being a tutor to help her get the score she needed for the LSATs, and it further helped display that the hair colour blonde means nothing more than the DNA your parents gave you – or what you got out of a bottle.

In the film there was, however, a somewhat stereotypical depiction of a Woman’s Studies graduate because let’s face it some stereotypes are an easy contrast to Miss Elle Woods. The character is, yes, a lesbian; she looks down on Elle immediately, and mocks her openly. Yet Elle does not do the same in return; in response to the character accusing her of being someone who would call her a dyke behind her back Elle is shocked because she would never insult her. She understands sisterhood – shown again later as she keeps her client’s secret to maintain her client’s reputation – and knows that insulting other women undermines that. It is a key theme of the movie that women are there to support each other – take the bend and snap scene for perfect proof – and that even those who might not be completely compatible can still relate to each other and be there for one another.

In an article I recently saw the plot of the film was being mocked for being too convenient; they were referring to the climax of the film where Elle cracks the case she has taken over – after her ‘prick’ of a professor hit on her and was fired – by knowing perm maintenance. If you haven’t seen it or don’t remember she unpicks the murderers alibi by pointing out that her story of showering within a few hours of getting a perm was a lie because after having over thirty perms in her life she would know that she would not be allowed to get her hair wet for at least 24 hours after. Hair and nail maintenance for someone like Elle is her specialist knowledge, and so what she did was use that knowledge to protect her client from being falsely imprisoned. As someone who is make up illiterate I admire those who can understand how to wield mascara, lip liner, and foundation to ‘put on your face’; whilst I fully understand the history of women’s beauty expectations and would love for women to be accepted as they are I do not condemn or insult women for wearing make up in the meantime.

Whilst there are many individual choices women can make that hurt other women – such as reframing harmful institutions that hurt many women for the sake of a few – there are many that do not. Women should not be shamed for not shaving and they shouldn’t be mocked for wearing make-up and heels. All women should understand that standards of beauty are there to make women feel bad about themselves so they will buy unnecessary products, they should work towards feeling secure in themselves so that their self-worth isn’t defined by their looks, and I think sisterhood and feminism is a perfect way to help women value themselves. But it also definitely doesn’t make you a ‘bad feminist’ if you want to wear make-up and heels whilst smashing the patriarchy.