To my husband, I explained that it is so rare to see a girl, especially a young girl, who takes charge of her life. There was no ‘boy interest’, there was no flakey, indecisive behaviour, there was simply a girl who stood before Bayard (the dog) and said “I choose…” God I love those two words when they come from the mouth of a teenaged girl. We should hold classes in high schools where we make all students practice saying them!

This post was mentioned on Twitter by aboutfacesf: Jennifer has 6 reasons girls should aspire to be like Alice (in Wonderland) http://about-face.org/blog/archives/3164…

First of all, I really enjoyed reading your article and I was impressed at how you criticized all of a woman’s insecurities in modern society’s outlook upon women. Women of today believe that they need to feel insecure about the way they look, their personalities, their place within a modern society, and in the world of the film industry. Throughout history, women have always been neglected of their strengths because people have continuously portrayed women as objects. Because of this mockery, women have been lacking confidence within themselves to stand up for themselves and not be influenced by what other people say about them.

This has been a common theme that has appeared in many films and novels that feature women. One novel that sparks this theme is The Bluest Eye, which was written by Toni Morrison. Morrison wrote this novel as a message to all women to break open from their shells and to reveal their inner selves. The women in this novel have been corrupted by the image of physical beauty and have thought to obtain high social status by keeping a certain level of appearance. All women today are continuously being corrupted by this same factor and will never quit until women begin to believe in their own feelings and be confident to break out of the barrier that has trapped women inside for centuries.

People need to realize that women are equal human beings and that there’s more to their world than just maintaining a beautiful appearance. Women should be looking up to Alice’s character in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film because of her protagonist qualities that bring out the true warrior from within. Women have lost the sense to be confident with their own feelings and have relied too heavily on other people’s opinions about their appearance. Women need to stand up for their own self and realize that they can’t always be judged based on their appearance, but who they are on the inside. That is the important quality that Alice has that she needs to exemplify to other women. Alice shows the unique ability to trust her own beliefs and keeps that fire inside of her glowing bright as the morning sun, encasing herself with a bright light of radiance. Women need to understand that there’s more to life than just looking prettier than the person next to you, but rather the importance of having personality and confidence within that slumbering warrior beneath all that so-called “precious skin.”

After reading your blog you made me think back and realize that most of what you said was very true. Alice does not abide by another person’s will. She has her own will and her own mind. A good example of this would be when she went to the Red Queen’s castle to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) after he saved her. Also, like you said she did this to show that she did not lose her Muchness and prove the Mad Hatter wrong. Reason #3 stands out to me too because in the current day, most people expect the main female characters to be EXPCEALLY pretty/hot (not saying that Mia Wasikowska is not pretty/hot), but in this movie it did not seem like the producers tried to make her look like a fashion model or a pretty Barbie doll.

When reading this blog it made me think of the novel (that has a main character that is the complete opposite as Alice) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. In this novel, Pecola Breedlove, a black girl that lived in America around 1970,wishes to have blue eyes. She thinks that if she had blue eyes then everything that was wrong in her life would turn right. Pecola searches throughout the book and in the end she is tried into thinking she has blue eyes when she really doesn’t. She deluded herself into thinking that those “blue eyes” made her much prettier and more acceptable than before. Unlike Alice, Pecola is uncomfortable with who she is and tries to change it. If you compare Alice to Pecola, Alice is a much stronger character because she lives with who she is (not trying to change anything). During Alice’s time the style and trend was to wear a corset, but she refused because she didn’t like to wear it, by doing this Alice defines herself and makes a clear statement that she does not want to be like all the other aristocrats out there. Unfortunately, Pecola did not have the same mind set as Alice and tried to convert to the thing she thought was pretty.

Check out this young feminist at Smart Girls at the Party:

http://www.onnetworks.com/videos/smart-girls-at-the-party/the-feminist-ruby

But also blogs and stuff (like the “this is what a feminist looks like” group), like this one, looking at pop-culture through a feminist lens and not being afraid to point out that’s what is being done. If we become nervous about using the word, it seems to hand over power to the people who start shouting ‘feminazi’ anytime someone points out problems with the way women are regarded and treated.