Once hidden away and tarnished from societal judgment, hyper-femininity, the exaggerated expression of traditional feminine traits according to Identiversity, has finally made a bold resurgence. Today, many people unapologetically embrace and celebrate this ultra-feminine style, proving there’s nothing wrong with loving pink.
For much of cinematic history, identifying the villain was never a challenge for audiences. Antagonists were often unmistakable, from Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker to Maleficent and Snow White, they exuded an aura of evil the moment they hit the screen. In their appearance and demeanor, antagonists always embodied the malice they carried with them.
Slowly, this portrayal began to shift, where the villain no longer visually stood out. Instead, they began to take on the appearance of an ordinary woman, dressed head to toe in designer clothes and pink. Before this change was recognized, the damage had already been done. Audiences began to demonize ultra-femininity, instinctively casting the villain role onto those who embodied hyper-feminine traits. This shift marked the beginning of a dark perception of pink.
Being objectively pretty, interested in your own appearance, and loving pink became the clear indicators of evil. The dense villain will be hyper-feminine, while our hero will have a kind heart and bleak fashion sense, always ready to forgive her enemy with open arms. Regina George from Mean Girls and Sharpay Evans from High School Musical are the biggest examples of this: two characters that are white, blonde, and vain with a love for glitter and pink. Both characters have similar counterparts: Cady and Gabriella. These two protagonists are both low maintenance, humble in the societally correct ways, dressed down in muted colors, and eventually win the guy for their overall coolness. The takeaway from these two films is that by diluting your true self, you can shape your personality to please a man. What’s troubling to consider is that many of these ‘lessons’ are found in media targeting young girls.
I was obsessed with the cartoon Bratz as a kid. I was in love with their down-to-earth personalities and fashion sense. I remember rooting for these girls when faced against the main antagonists of the show: a woman named Burdine Maxwell and her two ‘Tweevils’ Kirstee and Kaycee. Head to toe in pink, they were uptight, stupid, and evil, hellbent on ruining the Bratz girls. I see now that I had absorbed this harmful stereotype like a sponge, spending years of my life yearning to be as tomboyish as Jade, even though, deep down, I secretly loved Burdine Maxwell’s pink office.
The concept of putting beautiful women against each other in competition is misogyny in its rawest form, and Hollywood has made it clear who will win and who will lose, regardless of personal interests or individuality. Yet again, the public has created another way to constrain and control the idea of femininity so that it’s palatable for our patriarchal society. As a collective consciousness, we’ve gone on for so long thinking that it’s a shame, a mockery even, to be on the hyper end of femininity.
An additional note I want to make is about the character Jennifer from Jennifer’s Body. While she is a pretty cheerleader who’s vain and wears baby tees, she becomes the victim of her own hyper-femininity, literally, as she’s murdered by a group of men for a satanic ritual, becoming a succubus who eats men. Though she and her best friend Needy fit these archetypes, they are never portrayed as competing with each other. There is no man to win in this movie because this was never the point. The intention here isn’t to present Needy in the same light as Gabriella and Cady; rather, it’s to showcase the intimate friendship between two girls who are both victims of life, just in different ways.
I personally don’t think Jennifer Check belongs in this misogynistic realm of ultra-feminine mean girls. While all these characters mentioned are victims of their own creators, Jennifer was created with a purpose and a point to challenge the very same narrative that we are discussing. To say otherwise would be a disservice to her.
That said, don’t think I dislike this portrayal. I love my hyper-feminine blonde airheads like Cher from Clueless, Brittany from Glee, and Lindsay from Total Drama Island to name a few of my favorites. My concern lies with the societal conditioning that assumes every hyper-feminine character is secretly evil or inherently incapable. It’s frustrating, why can’t they be our sequined hero? Embracing hyper-femininity not only empowers those who have hidden a beautiful part of themselves for so long, but it also makes way for removing the many, many psychological punishments that have prevented people from fully expressing their own hyper-feminine identities.
To conclude, I’ll leave you with my final thoughts on the matter: just because you own a Juicy Couture pink tracksuit or have a Hello Kitty-themed house, it doesn’t mean that you’re secretly evil or an airhead, it simply means that you have fabulous taste.