I’m not just talking about the “Bend and Snap!” At first glance, the movie is campy, exaggerated and blatantly upholds stereotypes in a way that only a 2001 chick flick could. However, it teaches one extremely vital lesson to ambitious women everywhere: you don’t need to tone down your femininity in order to be successful.
Elle Woods is the pink bikini-clad poster girl for this motto. Take a look at her journey through law school. While her admissions video was extra—to say the least—I understood it to mean that being her glitzy, ditzy self got her to where she is. That being said, she didn’t just coast in on her looks; Elle studied ruthlessly for her LSATs while being the president of Delta Nu. The storyline captures the best of both worlds, portraying Elle as a lovable ditzy sorority girl but also as an ambitious academic eager to chase down her dreams.
As soon as she gets to law school, Elle tries to assimilate and tone down her personality in order to succeed in the ultimate boys club. She loses herself and her purpose in the process, leaving her to pick up the pieces and wonder how she’s going to make it. With no other option, Elle resorts to what should have been her first plan: to be herself and let that take care of the rest. And look where it got her! Elle seeks to achieve for herself and not for others and embraces the intersectionality between her identity as a woman and a law student.
Her insight proves to be vital. Elle locks away Chutney on account of perm maintenance techniques and wins her case. Elle Woods is a successful lawyer because of her femininity, not in spite of it, a healthy reminder that women can be both feminine and powerful in the workplace and often must be both in order to harness their true potential as a boss lady. Why not be both Marilyn and Jackie?