Filled with one-liners almost everyone can quote off the top of their head and accessories that made everyone fall in love with the color pink, “Legally Blonde” is a classic chick flick that is absolutely acceptable to binge too many times to count. Elle Woods has been a fierce girl boss since the early 2000s, and there is a little something we can all learn from her. She is such an inspiring role model to college women, especially in the fact that she had a dream in mind and worked hard doing everything she could to achieve it. Not to mention, she looked fabulous as ever while doing so. Here are nine things we can take away from this queen.
- Surround yourself with positivity
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If this requires cutting out toxic relationships, go ahead and do it. Upon coming to Harvard Law School, Woods was able to determine who was only bringing negativity to her life, and she was not going to continue putting her energy into that when all those people did were bring her down. Warner Huntington III is the perfect example of a toxic boyfriend, and even though Woods spent a good amount of time trying to win him back over, she was able to learn that she deserves so much more than a “boyfriend who’s not such a complete bonehead” (AKA the worst insult one can possibly give a guy). She learned that she needed someone who will accept her for who she is and will encourage her dreams. Life is too short to surround yourself with things that don’t spark joy, so reflect on the people and activities that you spend the most time with to see if they are actually worth the time and energy.
- Don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd
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Woods absolutely excels at standing out from the crowd, and she is not afraid to do so. Why try to fit in and be like everyone else when you were born to be your own person? If Woods spritzes perfume on her resume and prints it out on pink paper, we should too, right? Hey, it did help her get attention, and the internship team remembered her because of it. Sometimes we got to do what we believe “gives it a little something extra” in order to set ourselves aside.
- Follow your dreams because anything is possible if you work hard enough
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We can truly be whatever we want to be. Woods doesn’t just find herself in Harvard Law one day; she had to study for those LSATs, memorize legal jargon for her studies and work hard for her internship. She put in the work for it, and it payed off in the end as she landed a spot at Harvard with a prestigious internship and was at the top of her class. If you are passionate enough about your goals and are willing to go after them even if requires ditching some fun social events to study a bit more, the story of Elle Woods proved here that nothing is out of reach.
- The bend and snap truly does work every time
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When I say every time, I mean every time. The bend and snap never fails. Period.
- Don’t let a stereotype define you
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Yes, Woods can be seen as a typical sorority girl who is obsessed with the color pink. However, this doesn’t mean that she is any less smart from her classmates or is a stereotypical “dumb blonde.” Woods proved herself in the movie despite classmates not taking her seriously. She proved that she is driven, focused, a good friend and a fashionable queen throughout all of her studies, and I applaud her for that. Regardless of the “haters” misjudging your every move, just remember that only you can define who you are as a person.
- We don’t need a man to make us happy
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Yes, it took Woods a while to realize this. After all, she chased after Warner in attempt to win his love by working hard to get into Harvard. But she realized that he never believed in her in the first place to take law school seriously (or get in in the first place). We can learn from her that it is better to wait for someone who will respect you, support your dreams and love every part of you—just like Emmett. Regardless, we are all strong, independent women here. We don’t need a man to be happy when we have each other and are all unique versions of a girl boss. Let’s celebrate that!
- Don’t wet your hair after a perm
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“The first cardinal rule of perm maintenance is that you’re forbidden to wet your hair for at least 24 hours after getting a perm at the risk of deactivating the immonium thygocolate.” Obviously.
- You never know who you are going to impress
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When Woods was crying at the salon saying that her journey was all a mistake and she was going to move back home, her intimidating professor overheard and gave her an incredible piece of advice.
“If you’re going to let one stupid prick ruin your life, then you’re not the girl I thought you were,” professor Stromwall said.
This came as a surprise to Woods because she thought her professor disliked her the whole time when actually Woods was making a good impression on her. You may not know it at the time, but instances like this count as unofficial networking and can really make a difference for the better if taken seriously.
- ‘You must always have faith in yourself’
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This is one of the most noted quotes in the movie as Woods tears up during her class speech at graduation. Woods trusted her instincts throughout her journey and was unapologetically herself the whole time. We know what we want for ourselves more than anyone else does, so we should never let anyone tell us that we are not good enough. As a wise (and fabulous) graduate once said, “You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.”
We can thank Elle Woods for giving us some of the handiest life lessons and for being such a powerful role model for navigating college, relationships, dreams and everything in between. Life isn’t so hard when we focus on the positives, surround ourselves with things that inspire us and wear a little bit of pink while doing so. After all, “Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed!”