When I read how Douglas argued that even though women's voices are being heard in TV and books now, their voices only talk about what stereotypical women talk about - boys, shopping, love, their problems with their bodies and looks and skills - I immediately recognized this phenomenon in one of my favorite books. I loved The Princess Diaries series, but after I read Douglas, I was wondering whether or not this nostalgic book for me was feminist, antifeminist, or both, like Ally McBeal was. For example, the first page of the first book starts with Mia ranting about how her mom is ruining her life but not telling her mom about how she feels, which makes her sound whiny and incapable of confronting her problems; in fact, her best friend Lilly comments:
"If you're that upset about it, just tell your mom,"
Lilly says. "Tell her you don't want her going out with
him. I don't understand you, Mia. You're always going
around, lying about how you feel. Why don't you just
assert yourself for a change? Your feelings have worth, you
know."
Then, she goes on to thinking dreamily about Josh Richter, a popular senior she has a crush on, who turns out to be a completely horrible guy. Then, her To-Do List includes "Stop thinking so much about Josh Richter, Be more assertive, and Measure chest." Mia's diary, which is her own thoughts about the world and her life, is just like the female voice-over introduced in Clueless that Douglas talks about; Mia is speaking directly to her diary (and thus the reader) about how she feels without any censors - she is writing about how she herself feels and it is directly transmitted to us instead of us getting a picture of her through how other characters see her. Instead of seeing a girl who is proud of her ideas and herself, we see that she is obsessed with getting male attention and fixing her physical and personality flaws - which are the issues that society had stereotypically asserted were most important to women before this window into the female mind emerged. I think that Mia Thermopolis is very similar to Ally McBeal - women who are one moment are strong and confident and incompetent and insecure the next. She is a princess that can enact great change with her political power but also struggles with "the demands of femininity" - looking pretty enough to gain boys' attention. I recognized myself in these women - I try to be strong and I am ambitious in the professional sphere (I hold a job on campus, babysit, work as a camp counselor, tutor, and edit for a company), but I do love shopping and feeling pretty and I do worry if guys find me attractive. So where do I fit in on the feminist spectrum?
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