MEAN GIRLS

CLIQUES

Different Cliques – Cady realizes that there were
many different social groups in the cafeteria
(The Plastics, Jocks, Asian Nerds, Cool Asians,
Varsity Jocks and more).

These different cliques greatly influence how Cady
acts and behaves as a person. The most famous
clique is The Plastics, which includes (Queen Bee)
Regina George and (the followers) Gretchen Wieners
and Karen Smith.

Regina immediately accepts Cady into her group of
Plastics, as she in a sense sees Cady Heron as a
potential threat due to her good looks and figure.
She believes that if she makes Cady one her
followers she no longer will have to worry that
Cady will become popular or outshine Regina.

SOCIAL CONFORMITY

Being Accepted into The Plastics - Cady can be
described as a very naive, down to earth and
intelligent young girl. She comes from a very safe
and supportive family, where she is trusted by
adults and can trust others. However, from her first
day of school she is seen as an outlier
as she does not have any friends. She gets laughed
at by others and is made fun of when making
mistakes in class. Luckily for her Regina George lets
Cady join their clique of Plastics.

Change in Behaviors, Attitude, and Looks - From the
moment Cady is drawn into the Plastic she can be
seen as conforming to social standards as she begins
to change the way she dresses, behaves and talks to
others. For example, she starts to dress with less
modesty and behaves more ditzy and dumb in order
for boys like Aaron Sameuls to like her more.

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

Agents of Socialization – Family: Cady learns
how different parents can be from one family
to the next. For example, after visiting Regina's
home and seeing her mom, and being offered
alcohol, she realizes the difference between her
parents and other parents.

Agents of Socialization – School: With this
agent of socialization Cady learns the how the
school system works and how she is not trusted
by adults. For example, she gets in trouble for
walking up and going to the bathroom, reading
ahead and other certain things. She learns and
realizes that she was being yelled at for doing
things that she thought were acceptable and
common, until she learned that she was not
trusted by adults and had to ask for permission
to do what she wanted.

Agents of Socialization – Peer Group (Friends):This
agent of socialization describes how Cady is
dramatically influenced by the Plastics and her friend
groups as a whole. For example, in the film as
Cady begins to hang out with the Plastics, Gretchen
tells Cady all of the rules of being a Plastic (like
wearing pink on Wednesdays), overall all of these
rules change Cady as a person, especially the way
she dresses.