Look at the Pretties!!!!!

There is a certain standard for how girls should be, set by shows like Gossip Girl. The girls on the show are supposed to be pretty, feminine, and in dresses; they are expected to dance, have manners, and be socially proper. Not all girls are quite like that though. A perfect example is one of my favorite TV characters EVER! Kaliegh is from the show Firefly that previously aired on FOX for one series. She is comical, sweet, not quite innocent, a little bit of a tom boy, and kinda crude, but she is a lovable character. She does not fit the Gossip Girl standards of a female. She is a mechanic on the ship and one of only three girls on the whole ship. She talks machines, not seamstress's. There is a very painful scene where a very mean girl comes up to her and humiliates her on her fashion choices. She was very excited to wear a dress. The crew of the Firefly does not see her as a woman like their Companion, Anara. When Kaleigh first sees the dress with all the pretty ruffles, she is in love, the captain told her it would be pointless to walk around in a dress in the machine room. He said it would be "like a sheep standing on it's hind legs." Eventually, when he needs her to be a lady, he allows it, but when they go to the party, she just doesn't fit in quite right. She is awkwardly amazed by the buffet, the chandelier, the music, pretty people, and the dancing. Her best fit is in the engine room, but like every girl . . . .there is still a part of her that likes to wear pretty dresses and go to dances. All of us have a little Gossip Girl in us.

On Gossip Girl, they do a wonderful job in separating the sexes. They both have well defined images for each. The perfect example of their idea of a guy is Chuck Bass. Why? Because he is Chuck Bass. He has a persona larger than life. He is charismatic, suave, attractive, smooth, romantic, manly, mysterious, powerful, and intelligent. Blair and Serena describe both sides of girls. Blair is girly, proper, formal, sweet, jealous, vindictive, and bitter. Serena is a different kind of girl. She is free, fashionable, flirty, in control, and confident. They even separate the two groups for most things. The guys do "guy things." They go out drinking to clubs and bars with lots of women involved. He always has girls falling all over him, one on each arm. He throws around his money, waltzes in when people need help, and makes everyone fall all over their feet. The girls do things like shop, party, meet boys, gossip, fashion shows, and go to photo shoots. They epitomize an uptown New York girl. The show uses these two opposing forces and pits them against each other, making for even steamier hook ups. They monopolize on the ideas society has created for each of the genders and make them larger than life and almost unrealistic. No girl can be that perfect, nor can a single guy really have that much game.

There isn't another new one till march, but I think I can survive. I found the first season. I decided to begin with episode one this time. Now I understand where everything is coming from. Gossip girl sets the standards high for how a girl is supposed to act. They should be classy, smart, respectable, and yet it seems they give the idea the girls still must please the boys. Blair finds out Serena slept with her boyfriend, Nate and she is ANGRY! She calls Serena all kinds of names, but when she finds out Serena is coming back in town, she wants to have the upper hand with Nate and prove to him she will do anything to get it. This gives us viewers the impression it is acceptable to do that to get your way, but they challenge that idea just a few minutes later. They destroy Serena's reputation for being free with her love. They call her a slut and question her morality. No one ever says anything about all the escapades of Chuck though. It gives him a status no one can touch. It makes him like a king to the other boys. I think the first two episodes bring up the controversial issue that guys can be much freer with themselves than girls can. It is an unfair standard set between the sexes that is present in everything. Don't get me wrong though. I do not agree with the freedom neither one of them practice. I just believe the standards are biased. There is a double standard for girls, and Blair is caught right in between it. She wants to please Nate so he does not go back to Serena, but she still has to live up to her image of the squeaky clean good girl headed for Yale. This puts her in a very awkward spot, but one I think may girls find themselves in.

Monday came late this week, but thank goodness for TV on the Internet. It was worth the wait even though CW is slow putting shows up. This week they played up every girl's worst nightmare. Gossip. It is an activity related to being feminine and the ladies room. People assume all girl's gossip. Boys should not, it is not acceptable. And once again, Gossip Girl outlined that role perfectly. The episode was all about gossip and revenge on a teacher, which turned out to be a little too true. Blair always seems to fit the idea of the perfect girl. In this episode, she played "daddy's little innocent girl," but really she wasn't. This week's Gossip Girl chose to use Blair as the perfect example of all the bad traits a girl can exhibit. Vindictive revenge, gossiping, and a lack of care are just a few. She is the girl everyone hates, the one that gives us all such a bad name. When people think of girls, especially popular ones, they thing of the terrible things they do to others to get their way and the lack of consideration of the feelings involved. They show cattiness in the perfect manner to exploit all the issues with it. Guys will normally just brush things like community service off their shoulders. Girls, like Blair, hold onto it much better. She was forced to do community service and had her acceptance to Yale threatened. She was not about to stand for that one bit. I also think this is true for most girls. We are much better at holding grudges with everyone. They say we aren't competitive but it seems like we always need to get the upper hand when we were wronged. Normally, we go about that revenge in very typical ways, such as gossip. Gossip is one of the most vicious female habits and can be more damaging than a punch to the face. I think that is the reason girls are so much more vicious. This week's episode of Gossip Girl demonstrated why girls really know how to scar someone for life.