The Rules of Feminism

Join the Mathletes!

Mrs. Norbury (Tina Fey) urges Cady (Lindsey Lohan) to join the Mathletes because she knows that Cady is good at math. Mrs. Norbury knows that joining a club like Mathletes would be social suicide, however she's teaching Cady that it doesn't matter what others think of you. Just do what you do best.

Stop calling each other deragatory terms such as "sluts" and "whores"

Mrs. Norbury points out to the girls that if they don't stop calling each other "sluts" and "whores" that they're giving permission for guys to call them the same thing. Girl world is supposed to be a safe place, but they're making it anything but a safe place by always using deragatory terms about each other.

Looks aren't everything

At the beginning of the film, Cady points out that she didn't think there were so many things that could be wrong with the way people looked. She thought that there was only only "fat" and "skinny". However, "The Plastics" teach Cady the false statement that looks are everything. Feminism teaches girls that looks aren't everything and that it's okay to love the way you look. The first time that Cady interacts with "The Plastics", Regina George (Rachel McAdams) tells Cady that she's super pretty. When Cady responds with "Thank you!" Regina responds by saying "So you think you're really pretty." Caught off guard, Cady shakes her head. But what's so wrong with thinking that you're pretty? There's nothing wrong with it! Girls nowadays are constantly ridiculed on social media for posting a "selfie" because people say that they're too into their looks. But being confident isn't cocky and you should always feel comfortable in your own skin.

Don't follow the crowd

Cady soon learns that the other girls in the school would quickly do anything to be just like Regina. Cady also finds herself later in the film, acting just like Regina. Everyone knows the saying, "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?" Well, hopefully you say no. Everyone is different for a reason and doing something for the sake of popularity isn't worth it. Stay true to who you are and you'll find your true friends will be there for you.

Love yourself and love others

Another lesson in the film is to love yourself and love others. Girls constantly put each other down because they feel that's what will help them maintain their power. "The Plastics" create "The Burn Book" in which they rag on every girl, and sometimes boy, in the school. It backfires when Regina turns it into the principal acting as if she is a victim of the book. This teaches the girls that you need to make "girl world" a place of support and not fighting.

Cillis, Hazel. "10 Important Feminist Lessons We Learned From 'Mean Girls'." Mic. 2014. https://mic.com/articles/81727/10-important-feminist-lessons-we-learned-from-mean-girls#.uQEZ11Cfp

Williamson, Laura. "Mean Girls Taught Me To Be a Feminist." The Tab. 2016. http://thetab.com/2016/03/21/mean-girls-taught-me-to-be-a-feminist-80444