Legally Blonde Review

Legally Blonde is a story about your typical blonde sorority girl who is oblivious, ditsy, and not intelligent who defies the odds. Throughout the movie, Elle Woods proves us wrong by getting into law school and solving the case. She shows that she is a smart and confident woman who can also be successful in a male dominate field. Although this movie is very empowering for women today and when it was released, many women are sexualized and quickly stereotyped by society and men.

Towards the end of the movie, Professor Callahan calls Elle into His office to “talk”. Callahan talks to Elle about the summer internship opportunities, and he makes an advancement on Elle by putting his hand on her leg. Elle asks Callahan if he was hitting on her, and he replies with, “I’m a man who knows what he wants.” Callahan thought since Elle was a beautiful girl who gives the impression that she’s unaware sometimes that she would want to “sleep” with him. Callahan’s actions towards Elle were a violation of Title IX and sexually harassed her. This scene from the movie is a violation of Title IX because it goes against the discrimination of gender and sex in an area of employment on school property. The women’s center here at Georgia College provides information about Title IX and how to contact our Title IX coordinator. Like many women, Elle never officially reported that she was sexually assaulted by her own professor. Many women who are violated don’t report it because maybe they feel like no one is going to help them, understand them, or believe them. This is what women’s centers are for, they are here for women to express their concerns in a setting where the people will believe them and want to help them out.

Women are sexualized by men for their bodies and thought of like objects, and in some cases, if these men are close enough, they will make advances on the woman. Callahan sexualized Elle like many men in higher up positions have to other girls. As Elle says, “all people see when they look at me is blonde hair and big boobs”. When this happens to women, it can make them feel like all their hard work is for nothing and a waste of time. They think they only got the position because their boss liked the way they looked. Elle, for example, ended up dropping out because she felt that way. In the end, Elle proves Callahan wrong by winning the case. She shows him that she is more than just her body and looks.

Overall this movie was empowering in many ways bringing attention to many important topics like sexualizing women and sexual assault. Women’s centers all over support women going through each of these situations. These centers will always be there as a safe environment for all women.

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Work Cited: Legally Blonde. 2001, July 13