Category: Devon Anderson

Competition Within a Teenage Girl’s Mind

By Devon Anderson

For most of my young adult life, I have been constantly re-evaluating my femininity. I have looked at my body in a negative way, constantly acted flirtatious, and strived to improve myself in any way possible. The more I have been on social media, the more I began to understand that other women my age are obsessing over perfection as well. However, when discussing this topic more with my peers, I realized that this concentration on self-image went much deeper. Women tend to constantly compare themselves and compete with other women as well, trying to become the most liked person in the room. Not only do women compete in appearance, but they also compete for attention and intelligence (Linney, 97). However, this is because society does not see women as valuable unless they carry all of these important qualities such as intelligence and good looks. Even then, these women must except that they are subservient to men. They must hide their intelligence and speak softly. This is due to our patriarchal society. These aspects of “womanhood” make it incredibly more difficult to be seen as anything other than an object.

At first, I viewed this competition as haughty; who would want to be that way? However, I began to acknowledge that I, too, was partaking in this competition. Furthermore, I was doing it subconsciously. This is due to many of the influences that media has on young women including men judging women based on looks and other attributes. Theories such as evolutionary psychology state that this competition can also occur because “women need to protect themselves from physical harm, so indirect aggression keeps us safe while lowering the stock of other women” (Gordan, Paragraph 5). Gordan, a writer for the New York Times also states that “Research tells us that women are compelled to level the playing field by any means necessary to make sure we have access to the best genetic material, but since these are not real concerns in our modern lives, our competitiveness becomes something a bit more private and understandable.” This research was found from Noam Shpancer’s article “Feminine Foes: New Science Explores Female Competition” where he found that this could very easily be some part of the revolutionary cycle. This essay will explore the competition between women at young ages, how this competition in films is portrayed, and how this competition seen in films can give young girls unrealistic expectations about how they need to act in this society. The essay will explore all of these topics through three Italian coming of age stories: L’amica Geniale, Baby, and Cosmonauta.

First, I will discuss the competition among the main characters in L’amica Geniale. Lila and Lenù, two girls from a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, have a very complicated relationship. Lenù first becomes interested in Lila when she realizes that she is smarter than everyone else in her class. She can read and write, which for their grade is very astonishing. However, Lila is an outcast. She always comes to school dirty, is loud, and has no friendships. After this display of intelligence, Lenù starts to become infatuated with Lila. She follows her around and begins to play dolls with her, starting a relationship. The moment that defined this relationship was a scene in episode two of the first series. In this scene, Lenù and Lila are sitting near a grate. There is quite some distance between them which signifies their mistrust towards each other. They are still uncertain of how this friendship will go. They decide to switch their dolls, the objects which started their very friendship. Lila throws Lenù’s doll through the grate. The two get closer and closer, symbolizing that this event will bring them closer, and it does. Lenù throws Lila’s doll into the grate and yells “Whatever you do, I do” (Episode 1, 45:04). However, from this point, the relationship begins to turn manipulative. There is now more of a separation between the two. Even though they both threw their dolls onto the grate, the viewer sees Lenù as the innocent one that wants to become smarter through Lila, whereas Lila is seen as the manipulative part. “The friendship between Lenù and Lila begins, a friendship often characterized by jealousy and competition. Lila’s destructive action (it was she who threw the doll first) established its malice as a distinctive category from the beginning of the tetralogy, and in turn defines Lenù as the “good” part of the double.” (Iversen, 57). When Lenù gains the opportunity to continue her studies at middle school and Lila does not, the idea of Lila being the bad part of this relationship is furthered. She no longer has a traditional education. The two start competing with each other in terms of academics. Lila continues to study on her own and become the best at every subject Lenù is taking.

This competition continues when Lila becomes interested in a boy that Lenù is interested in. Lenù understands that Lila is prettier and smarter than her, which she determines as a threat. However, this competition does have positive effects. For instance, Lenù studies more and more, graduating at the top of her class. Lila continues to study on her own as well, furthering her education through the use of books and politically discovering communism within the community. Overall, it can be easy to see how competition can further a young person. However, this competition becomes detrimental to both the girls’ self-confidence. Not only do we see Lila making brass decisions to get Lenù in trouble such as skip school to see the ocean, but we also see Lenù begin to further herself for the wrong reasons. She no longer wants to further her education to better herself: she wants to do it to be better than Lila (Episode 4, 27:45). This competition creates uncertainties in their friendship and in their self confidence. The girls no longer see themselves as two individuals in a friendship but rather representing the good and the bad competing to see which one will prevail.

Now, I will discuss the competition between the two main characters in Baby. There are three different characters creating a competitive nature within the show: Chiara, Ludovica, and Camille. I will first discuss Chiara and Camille’s relationship. Chiara and Camille are the stereotypical best friends seen in most teen movies. They have been best friends since they were three, however it is unclear as to why they are still best friends. They are competing constantly in terms of friends and interest in boys. For Instance, When Damino, an edgy boy character moves to the school, they both become interested in him. When Chiara becomes aware that Camille is interested in Damino, she decides to pursue him anyway. This leads to them constantly competing for his attention. This can be seen by both of them making excuses to go see him and flirt. This jealousy can be explored in a scene that takes place during episode 2. Chiara and Camille are on top of a roof which overlooks Rome. This symbolizes their power they have over Rome with their monetary resources. Camille comes to the roof to check on Chiara. It is evident that Chiara feels uneasy about not only sleeping with Camille’s brother, but also being interested in the same man that Camille is (Episode 2, 12:24). Overall, this competition between the two surrounding their romantic interests makes them uncomfortable around each other.

Another form of jealousy also occurs when Chiara becomes friends with Ludovica. Ludovica is another edgy personality who is characterized by her sexual promiscuity. When this friendship becomes public, Camille becomes very jealous. She tries to talk Chiara out of the relationship as well as constantly giving Ludovica “dirty looks” (Episode 1, 8:40). Both of these types of competition increase the girls’ vulnerability and self consciousness. This can be displayed by Chiara becoming extremely uncomfortable around Camille when she talks about Damino which puts strains on their relationship (Episode 2, 7:45). It is evident that they both feel very uncomfortable around each other now that the topic of a boy has arisen.

Chiara also starts to become increasingly more sexually promiscuous such as having sex with older, married men (Episode 4, 35:26). Later on in the show, Chiara becomes a child prostitute. The competition between Ludovica and Camille is also detrimental. Camille is constantly commenting on Ludovica’s sex life, as well as other students. This leads Ludovica to seeing herself as useful for sex. She also becomes a child prostitute with this being one of the main contributing factors.

The film, Cosmonauta, by Susanna Nicchiarelli also discusses the topic of competition between the female characters.  The main character, Luciana, is competing with the antagonist, Fiorella, for a boy’s attention. The boy, Vittoro, is the head of the student communist collective and shows a large passion for this political party. Luciana becomes interested in him because of his passions and his looks. However, when Luciana introduces Fiorella to the collective, Vittoro takes a much larger interest in her rather than Luciana. This sparks the competition between them. The two girls are completely opposite. Luciana is stereotypically masculine in her appearance, speaks her mind, is comfortable with her sexuality, and passionate. Fiorella is very feminine, does not voice her opinion quite often, and acts ignorant. So, when this competition begins, it becomes very violent. At one point in the film, Luciana begins to hit Fiorella after she was kissing Vittoro, which is incredibly out of character for Luciana. This signifies that this competition was bearing on her personality and making her self conscious. The camera also pans to her brother, Autorro. Autorro is Luciana’s biggest inspiration. When there is this shot isolating Autorro’s reaction to Luciana fighting, the viewer can tell how important and drastic this fight is (Cosmonauta, 55:16). Luciana is forgetting about her passion for communism. However, in a self conducted interview, Susanna Nicchiarelli states, Luciana is struggling between whether or not she wants to be passionate about communism or passionate about her sexuality. This separation between the two is what really emphasizes the competition that most women must deal with. Luciana is originally forced to choose one passion as woman instead of having multiple, which is a luxury men have.

For all of these films, L’amica Geniale, Baby, and Cosmonauta, the aspect of competition portrays much more than simple relationships used to further the plot. Instead, these competitions are used to represent internal quarrels within the main characters. For instance, Lenù is personally conflicted with the idea that she must always succeed and be the best at everything. Not only must she be the best student, but she wants to be the best lover and the best possible friend. This stems from the overwhelming feeling that a woman feels the need to be a perfectionist. Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist who writes for The Guardian states that “perfectionists are those who strive for flawlessness, for a perfect creation, outcome or performance… They find it difficult to delegate, even if that means neglecting their health, relationships and wellbeing in pursuit of a “perfect” outcome.” Women tend to feel this at a much more overwhelming level than men do as well. A study conducted by Dr Jacqueline Mitchelson, a professor at Auburn University, states that “In both groups more men than women were classed as perfectionists who were happy with their achievements” (BBC News). Lenù is experiencing this perfectionism and struggling with it. This aspect makes her question herself as well as question her friendship.

The competition between Chiara, Ludovica, and Camille in Baby also portrays a much more complex internal decision that Chiara must face as she grows older. Chiara has the chance to become a much more daring person and neglect the privilege that her family holds in the city of Rome. If she follows Ludovica’s path, she will become free from the social restrictions of hiding one’s sexuality and free from judgement on actions that are astray from the social normality such as not studying and pursuing a career path not focused solely on money. She can become independent. However, if she does lead this path, she must accept that her friend who does follow these social normatives, Camille, will be lost. She will no longer have this security net of her parent’s money and status as well. This claim can be supported by the way Camille and Ludovica act. Ludovica is constantly expressing her sexuality by wearing exposing clothes, outwardly hooking up with men outside of her social circle, and experimenting with prostitution. Camille is associated with a more socially acceptable life. She does her school work responsibly, dates men within her social class, and dresses as well as acts conservatively. So, when Chiara competes with both Ludovica and Camille over boys and sex appeal, she is really trying to see which life suites her best and allows her the freedom she wants.

The competition between Luciana and Fiorella in Cosmonauta portrays a more complex battle within Luciana as well. Luciana is trying to figure out what type of woman she wants to be: the stereotypical woman of the 1960s who does not talk about politics and focuses solely on romance, or a woman who is invested in social change. Ideally, she wants to be a woman who is experimenting with her sexuality as well as a strong political figure, but soon realizes that it is very difficult to do both successfully. When she sees Fiorella succeed at having a relationship with Vittoro, she wonders if she must let her political side go. This internal struggle is portrayed in the fight Luciana has with Fiorella. However, at the end of the film, she realizes that even though society looks down upon sexually strong women who pursue careers, that it is possible. She eventually makes amends with Fiorella which represents her own conclusion to this theory (Nicchiarelli, Susanna).

In conclusion, this competition between female characters during these films are detrimental to the characters themselves. This is because the competitions force women to question their overall power in a way men do not have to. However, this is a struggle women have to face very frequently in everyday life. As Emily V. Gordan, a writer for the New York Times, states “Feeling on guard around other ladies is normal for a lot of women, and it’s exhausting. I exhausted myself for years trying to understand how other girls could have gone from my closest allies to my scariest foes.” Yet, this competition seems to be a necessity for the plot of all of these television shows and films discussing the topic of “coming-of-age”. This competition is exhausting and many girls and young women, however it portrays the struggles that we must go through that men do not. We must constantly reevaluate ourselves, making sure we are perfectly presented. This is the way we have been taught to succeed in this patriarchal world. On the surface level, this competition does seem haughty indeed, but as one dives deeper into the large ocean that femininity is, we start to understand that it is incredibly difficult to be a woman and express oneself as one feels. The competition seen within L’amica Geniale, Baby, and Cosmonauta allows the viewer to understand the internal struggle that women face everyday against the patriarchy within their own sex.

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