Stereotypes In Mean Girls

The period of adolescence is confusing for both the adolescents and the parents. As a result, there are a lot of stereotypes and myths that we associate with them. Some of these stereotypes and myths are exaggerated and reinforced in popular media. The movie, Mean Girls, reinforces some of these myths, but overall, accurately portrays many aspects of adolescence. To summarize, Mean Girls is about Cady Heron who transferred to a public school in the United States after being home schooled her entire life. She learns about the school’s cliques through Janis and Damian. The two of them warn Cady about “the Plastics” who are the most exclusive clique in the school. Regina, the leader of the group, takes an interest in Cady and invites her to

The textbook frequently talks about the increasing sense of self-consciousness throughout adolescence. The process of metacognition allows us to think about ourselves and how others think about us. As Laurence Steinburg states, “these processes permit the sorts of self-examination and exploration that are important tools for establishing a coherent sense of identity,” (2020, p. 169). The increased sense of self-consciousness explains the cliques adolescents tend to create in middle school and high school. While the cliques are a little more stereotypical in Mean Girls, cliques do exist among adolescents. As teens try to find their identity, they typically stay around others that they can identify with in one way or another. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, like the movie demonstrates. The movie also depicts the Plastics body self-consciousness. In one scene, Regina, Gretchen, and Karen are seen commenting on their own “imperfections” such as hairlines, facial pores, and shoulder size. Regina is also determined to “lose three pounds” throughout most of the movie. These are all very realistic things that adolescents tend to worry about that are also considered to be a part of private self-consciousness. Moreover, Janis was worried about being perceived as a lesbian because of old rumors, which is an example of public self-consciousness. Mean Girls