Media+Paper

Analyzing television shows was a very eye-opening experience. Unlike the typical brainstorming, we were assigned to watch a certain channel and then begin to connect gender ideas after we watched different shows or commercials. I was assigned MTV. At first I was overwhelmed with all the choices but I decided to analyze a single show…which was, unfortunately, my favorite show. I decided to analyze a show called "AWKWARD." This was one of my favorite shows but looking at this show through a different set of eyes truly allowed me to realize the cruelty of the media world. Some of the comments and playwriting was obvious that it was supposed to ridicule and stereotype teenage girls while at other times there were subliminal messages to degrade teenage girls. Through this paper I was able to analyze and realize that shows like these try not only to make a virtual script to display on television, but also make a social script that teenagers would appeal to. (Media Paper)

Mean Girls

Television has hypnotized our society to act a certain way in different situations. Media’s influence has led to social scripts, which are mental tapes provided by our culture of how to act. When people find themselves in new situations, uncertain how to act, they rely on social scripts to play their roles. From cooking shows to style shows, our society has developed roles based on what the media provides. For women, living up to society's expectations is not easy; especially when media forms stereotypes. TV shows, like MTV’s "Awkward", provide social scripts that cause teenage girls to transform into ‘Queen Bee-atches’.

In Awkward’s episode six, ‘Queen Bee-atches’, Sadie Sacton and Jenna Hamilton are high school’s stereotypical archenemies. Sadie plays the role of a hostile, spoiled, cheerleader, while Jenna is the innocent, kind girl. Jenna believes Sadie has ruined her life, embarrassing her in front of her crush and the whole school, and now it is her turn to take revenge. This episode is a recipe for a teenage girl’s transformation into a mean girl.

In this episode, the first step in becoming a mean girl is fitting in. Jenna is forced into Sadie’s mean girl lifestyle by her mother in order to join a club called the Nick Nackers. This club is supposed to be a charity club, but it is exclusively for elite daughters and mothers. Fitting in is a teenager’s number one challenge in high school. Even out of high school, women continue to strive to fit in. For example, Jenna’s mom has trouble fitting in with the women around her, which is why she strives to be accepted by this exclusive club. Unfortunately for Jenna, being in Sadie’s territory will be difficult to maintain her social script of ‘nice girl.’ In order for Jenna to survive in Sadie’s territory, she must fit in and fight back. She begins to develop this cruel characteristic when she surrounds herself with other mean girls. This episode transforms Jenna from nice girl into a mean girl in order for her to win the fight. In other words, the producers are advising young girls that only mean girls win.

The second step in becoming a mean girl is belittling others. This stereotypical mean girl, ridiculing others in order to feel better about one's self, is apparent in many of our society's high schools. Of course all mean girls must have a weak spot; Sadie's weak spot is her obesity. Jenna is able to take advantage of Sadie’s weak spot by stealing her food diary. Jenna knows she is powerless to Sadie’s cruelty, but now she has the upper hand in the fight. Jenna’s friends encourage her ‘to be the hero’ by bringing Sadie down. Being the hero will only boost Jenna’s self-esteem and belittle Sadie. In other words, Sadie’s famous quote “You have to be cruel to be kind,” has rubbed off on Jenna. This little twist makes the audience, mostly teenage girls, feel as if it is obligatory to be mean to win. Jenna, who believes the only way to win is to bring her enemy down, delivers the script to teenage girls that there is no nice way to win a fight. Unfortunately when teenage girls find themselves in this difficult situation, they take TV shows like these and begin to play Jenna’s role in order to win.

The third step in Jenna’s transformation into a ‘Queen Bee-atch’ is revenge. After Sadie insults Jenna by 'being a charity case herself', Jenna believes that Sadie has set her up for the perfect revenge. In response, Jenna comes back with something she read in Sadie’s diary. Jenna fights back with, “You know what I’ve been craving lately, fluffernutters. I have a real weakness for them.” Sadie then realizes that Jenna is playing the mean girl game too and there is only one spot for the ‘Queen Bee-atch.’ Sadie threatens to make Jenna’s life miserable if she does not give her back her diary. Jenna then takes advantage of the situation, like a mean girl would, and will return her diary if she gets a bid for the Nick Nackers. According to stereotypes, mean girls do not give in that easily and Sadie refuses to give her a bid. Playing along, Jenna says she will give it back either through the ‘web or posted all over the walls.’ Officially showing that only mean girls win the fight, the producers added for Jenna, “You have to be cruel to be kind, you’re welcome.” This complete transformation shows that Jenna, or any stereotypical nice girl, can not win a fight. The cruelty in the way girls use their words to hurt others is encouraged by this TV show. This script leads our generation’s girls to think that revenge and mean girls are the only ways to get what they want.

After striving to fit in, belittling others, and taking revenge, the producers compare Jenna to her mother. Thanks to Jenna’s cruelty and attempted blackmail, her mother and she are now officially members of the Nick Nackers club. Jenna hypocritically asks her mother, “Why would you want to be affiliated with horrible women who want to humiliate each other?” Her mother had always wanted to be more than ‘that girl.’ According to this show, ‘that girl,’ or the nice girl, does not survive. This scene allows the audience to believe that in order to be someone you must associate yourself with the mean girls. Mean girls never grow up, from high school cliques, to sororities, to elite mother daughter clubs; they are the only type of girls who make a name for themselves. Unknowingly, Jenna has become that mean girl and so have many other teenage girls.

“Awkward’s” social script, teenage girls must be mean in order to survive, has only contributed to high schools’ stereotypical mean girl. Media has tempted our generation with this type of cyber stereotyping, allowing teenagers to believe these are the correct ways to act. Although the nice girl is still a role in the show, she is no one until she becomes that mean girl. This social script makes teenage girls believe that in order to be recognized they must act like what they see on TV. It is unreal how quickly teenagers adapt these social scripts just by watching others do so themselves. Media has made girls of this generation become the stereotyped mean girl, or the ‘Queen Bee-atch’ of our society.