Queer Theory in Mean Girls

Queer theory in Mean girls
Throughout this post I will discussing Queer's theory in the first 20 minutes of Mean Girls and what issues can arise from the use stereotyping.

Throughout the opening of Mean Girls there are a few homosexual stereotypes that are obvious for the audience, they are the gay best friend,butch and queen. These are present in the characters of Damien and Janice. These are noticeable by the tone of voice that the characters use, the clothing that is worn and the body language that they use. For the character of Damien the first time the audiene are introduced to him he asks about the colour of Cady's hair, this is unusual for a male character to comment on and this would make Damien look like a homosexual stereotype, and this stereotype is proven more in the film as the audience get to know the character even more. The other homosexual stereotype that is also present in this film is the butch lesbian , the character of Janice is this stereotype. Janice fits this stereotype as of the clothes she wears and how she acts around other people, the clothes she wears covers herself up compared to the other female characters clothing, the way she speaks to other characters is not what some people would consider ladylike and is the complete opposite of the way the other female characters talk to others.

The way these homosexual stereotypes are shown are through their clothing, their looks and their body language, as mentioned before Janice wears unfeminine clothes, with Damien he owns a prink top when Cady needs to wear a pink top she asks Janice for a pink top she doesn't have one but Damien does this is showing the stereotypes that they fit into and shows the difference between the stereotypes. Also Damien has a feminine tone of voice that fits in with his homosexual stereotype of being camp, whereas Janice has a deep voice that fits in with her being a butch lesbian stereotype. The body language is also helps to clarify what behaviour makes people which stereotype, for example Damien continually flicks his wrist which most people associate with homosexual men. Damien can be classified as the gay best friend as he is best friends with Janice and the queen as he is flamboyant in his actions. By having these two stereotypes as friends audiences can see the difference between the two.

There could be some issues with the representation of these stereotypes in films, as for some people it could be unrealistic as they are not like that. For example, some homosexual men are not overly camp and some lesbians are not butch. Some people could take offence how they are represented in films, but others could agree with the representation as they are like the stereotypes.