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Feminism in "Legally Blonde" Annotated Bibliography

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Feminism in "Legally Blonde" Annotated Bibliography
Courtney Brown
Dr. Sublette
Lit Crit
25 April 2011

Annotated Bibliography
Feminism in the Legally Blonde Movie Duo

Hersey, Eleanor. "Love and Microphones: Romantic Comedy Heroines as Public Speakers." Journal of Popular Film & Television 34.4 (2007): 146-59. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.

Hersey’s article focuses on the heroines’ public speaking in Bridget Jones’s Diary, Never Been Kissed, Miss Congeniality, The Princess Diaries, and Legally Blonde. Hersey addresses the feminist debate about whether or not romantic comedies like these are empowering to women or supporting the status quo. This article points out the trend change in the final scenes of romantic comedies: there are more public speaking scenes and less final kiss scenes. Hersey explains how public speaking is directly related to the heroines’ professional success, which is often played out in the sequels of the movies. Elle Woods’s graduation speech in Legally Blonde shows that her professional life is the most important to her.

Lee, Felicia R., and Susan King. "Feminist Icon or Just Blonde?" The Age - Business, World & Breaking News | Melbourne, Australia. 3 Sept. 2003. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.

This article discusses the debate on whether Elle Woods is a feminist character, a post-feminist character, or a feminist character at all. It includes the opinions of experts on feminism and film, and also those of Reese Witherspoon, who plays Elle Woods in the film. It discusses other movies and actresses who have played roles similar to Elle Woods—seemingly “dumb blondes” who are actually smart and successful.

Marsh, Kelly A. "Dead Husbands and Other "Girls ' Stuff": The Trifles in Legally Blonde." Literature Film Quarterly 33.3 (2005): 201-06. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.

This article discusses the similarities and differences in Legally Blonde and Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles. Marsh says that both of these works emphasize sisterhood, the need of options for disadvantaged



Bibliography: Lee, Felicia R., and Susan King. "Feminist Icon or Just Blonde?" The Age - Business, World & Breaking News | Melbourne, Australia. 3 Sept. 2003. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. Marsh, Kelly A. "Dead Husbands and Other "Girls ' Stuff": The Trifles in Legally Blonde." Literature Film Quarterly 33.3 (2005): 201-06. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Apr. 2011. Raza, Omair. "Elle Woods: On the Other Side of Oppression." Chay Magazine. 1 July 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. In this article, Raza discusses the debate of Elle Woods as a post-feminist or anti-feminist character Schickel, Richard. "Ladies Who Lunge." Time 7 July 2003: 96. Academic Search Elite. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.

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