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Lesbian Identity In Mean Girls, Directed By Mark Waters

1149 Words5 Pages

The pinnacle of the lesbian identity is the taboo connotation that follows women’s identities in same-sex relationships transcending history and culture. Initially, the term “lesbian” is used to refer to women in homosexual, romantic relationships. However, because of our heterosexual society, over time, the term “lesbian” is hurled as an insult towards lesbians and straight women in order to ridicule their identities. In the movie, Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters, the term “lesbian” is often used as a slur to perpetuate the notion that to be romantically attracted to women is something to be ashamed of. The portrayal of lesbianism in this movie serves as a reflection of our society’s views on lesbianism, as it is something to be ridiculed …show more content…

Influenced by her works, the Economist article titled “Why Lesbians Flock to Lesbos” explains that fans of Sappho’s work began using her likeness as a demonym in order to identify homosexual attraction between women (Anonymous 1). As a result of Sappho’s poems, many were inspired to use the word “lesbian” in order to represent themselves as women in same-sex relationships. However, though the term “lesbian” was simply used to represent homosexual relationships without negative connotations throughout history, due to the Christian evangelism that followed during the eighteenth century, our society became increasingly conservative, ultimately forcing the term “lesbian” into a …show more content…

Denying Janis from being invited to her pool party, Regina states, “Janis, I can’t invite you because I think you’re a lesbian… I mean, I couldn’t have a lesbian at my party…There were gonna be girls in their bathing suits” (McAdams, Mean Girls). Revoking her friendship with Janis by uninviting her to her pool party, Regina implies that because Janis objectively acts like a lesbian, Regina discriminatorily projects that Janis would be predatory to all the girls at the party. The anti-lesbian sentiment that Regina imposes onto Janis throughout their youth ultimately reflects our society’s views on lesbianism, as they wrongly personify lesbians as predators through superficial stereotypes based on surface-level actions combined with false societal judgments loosely based on female

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1572 Words | 7 Pages

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