In a variety of social contexts in today's modern world, there is an idealized female image that is produced and used to fuel a girl's desire to transform into this role model, gaining both acceptance and popularity, each of which is pertinent to successfully “doing” the quintessential female gender role. The films Mean Girls and The Devil Wears Prada both follow the transformation of a main female character from an unpopular, socially naïve member of each unique social situation, into the epitome of their ideal; in turn allowing these women to climb the ladder of success established by a social hierarchy in a culture where physical appearance is valued, showcasing each woman's overall gender fulfillment. Analyzing what it means to achieve the "doing" of gender in Cady's role as a high school student and in Andrea's role as an assistant at a fashion magazine, we can see how each woman's transformation was driven by the need to feel accepted and successful among their peers, and how these changes have affected each character's popularity and relationships with those around them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Female gender is continually portrayed through the media as an ideal that must be achieved in a life plagued by aggression, popularity, and validation. This is especially true in the film Mean Girls where the social hierarchy within a school context glorifies beautiful and often unintelligent female students who use their dominance to assert power over the inferior student population; this movie refers to this group of girls as "The Plastics". At the beginning of the film Cady starts school as a "home-schooled jungle freak" (MG 1:16:10), but quickly learns that to the other girls her popularity "has everything to do with her looks , the way she talks, the friends she has, the boys she attracts, and how intelligent she is or chooses to reveal herself to be” (Brown 136). Regina refers to Cady as “socially retarded and strange” (MG 28:01). because she is not well versed in the common knowledge of pop culture that influences this generation of girls, Cady's decision to join her school's Mathletes team is criticized as "social suicide" (MG 22:27), although Cady did not know. nothing better. Friendship with "The Plastics" teaches Cady the correct way to dress and behave to achieve popularity in high school. Female gender “is a socially written dramatization of the cultural idealization of female nature, performed for an audience ” (West and Zimmerman 203); audiences then react to a person's "doing" of gender and judge the quality of their actions in relation to the ideal. Because Cady is not in a position of power among her high school peers at the beginning of this film, she is relatively unknown and treated with little respect because she does not emulate the typical ideal expected of the achievement of "doing" the female gender . . Her decision to change the way she "does" womanhood affects how she is treated by those around her. The Devil Wears Prada shows how the importance of conforming to the feminine ideal is not only a concept present in adolescent environments, but is also part of a woman's adult life. Andy, a journalist suddenly catapulted into the world of fashion magazines, must adapt to embracing the importance that her new colleagues place on the ideal model that can be found in the pages of their publication. He comesimmediately criticized for having “no style, no sense of fashion” (DWP 8:57) and her presence in this context is questioned as the possibility of a sad and unknown “before and after”. (DWP 9:59) Women's magazines are known to create a "self-hating, constantly failing, hungry, sexually insecure state of being" (Wolf 66) that substantiates a "transference of blame" (Wolf 65) between the publication and the reader. This guilt drives the girls to do everything to achieve their ideal, as Andy points out to Nigel that it seems like "none of the girls here eat anything". (DWP 20:12) Andy is constantly reminded that “a million girls would kill for [his] work” (DWP 10:39), which serves as further motivation to initiate his transformation. Since "people depend on social relationships with others to get most of what they want and need in life" (Ridgeway 191), the need to conform to the feminine ideal expected of a caregiver such a prestigious fashion magazine is the key to Andy's realization of gender. Her constant work to achieve what the Runway team defines as an ideal ultimately leads her to gain the approval of her colleagues and the infamous Miranda Priestly. The "doing" of the genre is performed for an audience; this audience then judges how this act compares to “the cultural idealization of female nature” (West and Zimmerman 203) and responds accordingly. After Cady completely transforms into “cold, shiny, hard, plastic” (MG 1:00:39), her popularity gives her power in this social context. Other girls who only dream of achieving such a social status show their respect by following the fashion trends set by the ideal girl. When asked about Cady Heron, a girl says that because she "saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip flops, [she] bought army pants and flip flops." (MG 43:40) Confirmation of the achievement of an ideal image by male peers is an important part of the feminine gender. After her transformation, a male student states that Cady "might even be sexier than Regina George." (MG 43:45) In addition to altering her outward appearance, Cady has changed her actions to reflect the fact that she is considerably less intelligent because "the culture stereotypes women to fit the myth... beauty without intelligence or intelligence without beauty ” (Wolf 59) are the only two options of existence for the female gender. After returning a failing-graded math test, Cady uses this opportunity to interact with Aaron Samuels and state "[she] thinks [she] needs a tutor" (MG 45:18) to be on her own with him. The voiceover used in the film reveals that Cady actually understands the material in her math class and is only faking her lack of intelligence to fit the feminine ideal. Although it may seem that Cady lost the respect of her friends and family during her transformation, the decision that "it was better to be in plastic, hating life, than to be none at all" (MG 43:23) gave meaning for his new role. Andy's journey to conforming to the ideal image as an assistant at Runway magazine is driven by his need to succeed in his career. Women's magazines "must be attentive to what social roles women are required to play in order to serve the interests of those who sponsor their publication." (Wolf 64) In response to serving the interests of sponsors, Runway employees strictly enforce the application of their magazine's ideal fashion and feminine image in their daily lives. When Nigel chooses what clothes to make,.