Elle Woods is my role model, or at least one of my many role models. And yes, you read that right. Elle Woods, the blonde, sorority girl turned Harvard valedictorian. Before you judge me, which I'm sure you started doing the second you saw the title of this article, hear me out. Elle is a strong, somewhat independent woman that worked hard for what she wanted, while remaining true to her femininity, which in my opinion, makes her a pretty great (fictional) woman to embody.
Elle didn't start out as some brainiac at an Ivy league school. She was a fashion design major, that went to a beachside school in California. However, once she figured out what she needed to do, she worked her butt off to get the LSAT score she needed and to get herself into Harvard law school. I know what you're thinking. She did it for a boy. And yeah, she did. But hold your judgement. This was the man that Elle thought she was going to marry, and then he dumped her for not being prestigious enough. Put yourself in Elle's shoes, just having been dumped, you would probably do the same thing as Elle. All women do crazy things when were heartbroken, but Elle used her craziness fueled by heartache to better herself. Although she didn't plan it originally, she eventually realized how much better she was without her bonehead boyfriend (something we all need to realize sometimes), and became the strong woman we know and love today.
In addition to inspiring me to work as hard as I can towards absolutely everything I want, Elle is my role model due to the fact that she never apologized for who she was, or tried to change herself to fit in. She was the minority at Harvard, and people definitely let her know. She wore fashionable clothes, was blonde, and wore pink, which she was judged hardcore for during her early time at Harvard. However, instead of bending to the pressure to conform, Elle instead used her differences to help her stand out to her professors and proved her place as an intellectual alongside her classmates. Elle taught little girls (and little boys) that just because you didn't look smart, didn't mean that you weren't smart.
Growing up, I was that girl. I was blonde, a cheerleader, and I loved to dress up and dress nice every chance I could get. But, I was really smart and I still am. However, to this day I have to answer shocked faces when they hear my GPA and my test scores, and I probably always will. It was through the character of Elle Woods that I learned, at a very early age, that just because I didn't seem like I was smart didn't mean that I wasn't, or couldn't be smart. And that lesson is something that I carry with me, twenty years later, every day when I walk into my college classes.
So thank you, Elle. You taught girls everywhere to work hard for what they want, and to not give into the expectations centered around a cute face or a ditzy voice.
"Most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself." -Elle Woods
