[ SECRET POST #4185 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4185 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 41 secrets from Secret Submission Post #599.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

How is she ~not like the other girls~ aside from the fact that she's not like literally anyone in her town?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't understand this question at all, but in general, "~not like the other girls~" is used to refer to female characters who are presented as different from, and superior to, other female characters because they have traits that aren't stereotypically coded as feminine. So, for instance, someone who wears t-shirts and is in the bleachers, as compared to someone who wears short skirts and is cheer captain.

It's not just about being different from other characters.

[(Anonymous)]

But she is literally that was with EVERYONE in the town. That is her whole thing.

[(Anonymous)]

That's my point. I don't see how Belle is portrayed as being superior to other women due to having traits that are perceived as non-feminine (she's as feminine as any other Disney princess) nor do I see how the story treats feminine traits in general as inferior. She's portrayed as being superior to everyone in her town because she's curious and open-minded where the townsfolk are shallow and judgmental, but that's an issue that doesn't have anything to do with femininity, unless you think that it's being not like the other girls to not want to give up your dreams to marry a sexist asshole.

The only thing I might concede is that Gaston's fangirls are portrayed negatively and stereotypically, but they're supposed to be bad because they idolize Gaston despite (or even because of) his shitty personality (which is something the entire town is portrayed negatively for), not because they're feminine and Belle isn't.

[(Anonymous)]

lmao I love you just for the Taylor Swift reference.

[(Anonymous)]

Not OP, but the emphasis on how strange and inscrutable she is because she reads and isn’t all over the local hot guy because he happens to have a repellent personality...yeah, that was very noticeable to me after I read one too many essays on what people think you should and shouldn't do when writing female characters.

[(Anonymous)]

She's not strange and inscrutable, except to the backwards sexists in her small town. She was a normal person who just wanted to live her life the way she wanted to live it (just like basically every other Disney protagonist) but wasn't allowed to due to regressive social constraints. She wasn't someone with internalized misogyny trying too hard to distinguish herself from other women by disparaging their feminine interests (nor did either films push that interpretation), she was someone who genuinely didn't fit into her society. Again, like many Disney protagonists.

[(Anonymous)]

I meant that she's weird from the townspeople's perspective, not ours. They sing an entire song about it, and I get the sense that the song is supposed to tell the viewer that Belle is more intelligent and sophisticated than everyone else. She may be a perfectly good character...but she's presented as a good character stuck in a town full of two-dimensional rubes. That's the reason it feels like a "not like other girls" situation. Other Disney characters I can think of who are misunderstood and don't fit in aren't portrayed as being inherently better, just different.

[(Anonymous)]

It cannot be a not like other girls situation if she's not like the entire town. That can be a cliche or even a Sue trait, but it has nothing to do with the not like the other girls trope. Being not like the other girls is about a girl being seen as superior to other girls because she's not stereotypically feminine. It's not about every single girl who doesn't fit in.

[(Anonymous)]

It could still be an Other Girls Situation if some of the townsfolk are stereotypically feminine girls and if she's particularly or specifically compared to them at any given point.

Haven't seen the movie, don't know if it does this, I'm just saying that it's possible. We can't rule it out just on the basis that she's different from all of the townsfolk.

[(Anonymous)]

There are exceedingly few female characters in the original film and she's not particularly compared to any of them. They most often show her supposed superiority by comparing her to Gaston who (as a narrow-minded, extremely masculine sexist) is supposed to be her opposite in every way. Belle isn't intended to be un-feminine in any way, unless you think it's unladylike to read or not want to give up your dreams in order to get married to a sexist and start a family with him. And if that's the case there are some bigger problems here than whether or not Belle is not like the other girls.

[(Anonymous)]

wait, which version are we talking about, animated or live-action? I thought we were talking about live-action

[(Anonymous)]

OP said that both portrayed her as not like the other girls.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, sure, I see what you're saying, I guess I passed over that bit.

[(Anonymous)]

She literally tries to teach another girl to read and gets punished for it, dude. To show how backwards they are and that it's an attitude that doesn't just apply to her.