The Elle Woods effect: Being “girled” while reclaiming girliness

Abstract

Using a case study of Elle Woods from Legally Blonde (2001), I assert that sorority communities are a prime example of the powerful impact of femmephobia in popular culture. Drawn from qualitative interview data with sorority women as well as media analysis and autoethnographic reflection, I use femme theory (Hoskin, 2017) and “girling” (Ahmed, 2017) to analyze a trend within my data that I label the “Elle Woods Effect.” Ultimately, I assert that the femmephobic dualistic tensions of the “Elle Woods Effect” demonstrate the off-screen impact of popular culture for femininized people and communities.