Beauty or Brains?
Almost every girl has felt pressured to have to choose between beauty or brains, but Elle Woods never did. The only people who reminded her she was supposed to be a "dumb blonde" were people who only saw her as such. For instance, when Elle showed up to a party as a pink bunny and told Warner she intends to become an intern for Professor Callahan, Warner is shocked she ever thought she had a chance. Despite this, she never defined herself by just her prettiness, which is what allowed her to get into Harvard Law School and come out on top.
Legally Blonde is one of the best feminist movies out there because it showed Elle Woods as a person with many layers. The creators never portrayed her as just a beauty or just brain, but both. Not only did the creators portrayed her as both, but they never had Elle abandon her clothes and make-up for books and hours studying. She even won her case in her signature color, pink. The creators showed that women can be a beauty and a brain and whatever else they put their minds to.
With that said, a vital step towards gender equality is changing how Hollywood portrays female characters. Women need to start being shown as people that are round and complex, instead of female characters that are flat and simple. In other words, women need to stop being placed into boxes; boxes as in archetypes that we are all familiar with: the girl next door, crazy cat lady, career woman and the damsel in distress just to name a few. These archetypes are dangerous because viewers leave thinking women can only be like this or like that, when in reality, women are multi-layered.
The film also revealed a deeper truth about society which is that the “beauty or brains” question is a lose-lose situation. If a girl chooses beauty, she is seen as shallow and materialistic, but if a girl chooses brains, she’s seen as undesirable because it can threaten a man’s masculinity if she’s too smart. Not only is it a lose-lose situation, but girls feel an incredible amount of pressure that they shouldn't have to because boys are never asked if they'd rather go to college or get married. The "beauty or brains" question leaves girls in a position where they will never be good enough.
Girls should never have to choose between beauty or brains because girls are so much more than just a beauty or just a brain or whatever other stereotypes there are. Legally Blonde is one of the best feminist movies ever created because it taught girls everywhere that they don't have to choose between beauty or brains. Most importantly, it taught girls that they, as Elle Woods would say, must always have faith in themselves.
