Critisizing Plain Jane: Jona part II

For those of you who don't know what this is about, this is part of my snarky feminist reviews against the horrendously sexist 'Plain Jane' makeover show. This is episode 2 (Jona 'No Risk Jane') part 2.

Former posts:

-Introduction on why I hate these kind of reality makeover shows

-Opening credits

-First episode (Cristen 'Friendzone Jane'): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

-Second episode (Jona 'No Risk Jane'): 1

• Previously on this episode (part 1): Jona is a girl who's labelled as a 'control freak' because she likes to be in charge of her life and stuff and that's obviously wrong and unfeminine (duh). She also needs help because her choice of clothing and her attitude towards hair and make-up aren't the normative limited set of 'options' required to be 'feminine', so she obviously won't be able to hook up with Entitled Boy (aka Jona's crush) unless this show's remarkably open-minded stylist helps her out.     So Jona embarks on an empowering (not) quest in which she gets another person to organize a blind date with Entitled Boy for her, then stalks her crush in a library, and gets lectured about how studying, wearing casual clothes, not wearing make-up and wearing her hair up are the things barring her for getting a man in her life (wow, I know).     Part 1 finished with one of the best examples of this show's dazzling display of logic and integrity, aka the 'face your phobia' experience, with Jona getting dragged off a flying plane (by creepy dudes who were enjoying her terror and lack of control a little bit too much) in order to finally be able to understand that going to a blind date with Entitled Boy wasn't that much of an ordeal. That's right, we need to enjoy a non-con scenario in order to muster our courage to go on a blind date. Such great advice, right?!

We've just started with the 'Previously on this episode' and McGonagall is already so done

But Jona's journey is not complete yet! That major example of the glorification of non-consent in the plane was not enough, because now she must also welcome invasive tactics, sexist stereotypes and double standards regarding her bedroom, wardrobe choices, interactions with other men and, finally, her hair and face. All of them necessary in order for Entitled Boy to be able to choose whether he wants her in his romantic life or not! 

Because, believe it or not, this extensive mental brainwashing process and physical makeover does not automatically grant you a 2D boyfriend to please every day (must be like winning the lottery, that). No, there's always the chance he will turn you down, because his choices and freedom actually do matter, so there's also the additional tension and anguish about being rejected and loosing a friendship (because in this kind of shows friendship and a relationship with additional 'romantic' elements are like contradictory and completely different things). Life is never easy for women, this show teaches us! (but tremendously straightforward for men, apparently). And that's why we must always make such an effort to please the menz!

Back from the plane experience, in which Jona found the enlightenment that comes from a non-consensual, out-of-context situation, she and the stylist go back to Jona's house, in order to fully criticize the state of Jona's stereotypical 'Plain Jane' bedroom: 

They also oh-so-subtly remind us - again - of the difference between the stylist's 'feminine', societally correct 'sexy' fashion sense, and Jona's 'tomboyish' and 'unfeminine'  casual 'sloppiness'. Women can only wear short skirts and cutesy and/or sexy stuff, pants and casual wear are only for men!

(in a posh voice) "I think that a home is a reflection of a person's  life. So I want to visit our Plain Jane's bedroom to gain insight into what may be holding her back." 

This part of the episode very helpfully gives us another clue about the 'Plain Jane' persona: Plain Janes without love in their life have incredibly messy, unkempt and dirty rooms, reflection of their unfulfilled love life and awkward personality (this stereotype already appeared in episode 1, with Cristen having a messy room as well). And now, with the bonus of bathroom plungers, stained sheets and food in the floor!  The stylist sums it up with 'Revolting...feral...I don't think I'd even let a pet rat live in here'.  

This is what happens when a woman wears pants, casual wear and doesn't have a man to look after

It seems that another theme in this episode is that Plain Janes are not only shy, self-conscious, and repressed - They're also dirty and unkempt, wearing stained clothing, having dirty hair and leaving food on the floor of their revoltingly messy rooms. Without a man, a woman is now also dirty and 'revolting', and paranoid and a control freak. It keeps getting better and better. 

Ian Chesterton is not sure he wants to keep reading this horseshit

Problem of a room this messy? She won't be having sex in it ('Do you know what this means, a broken mirror? [Jona: 'Seven years bad luck'] Seven years bad sex!'). That's the main problem.

Jona needs to throw most of her stuff out as well, because a woman without a man who is also 'control freak' is a 'childish hoarder' who doesn't throw anything away and keeps a dirty, messy room - Women aren't allowed to actually keep stuff they may like in their rooms, because that makes them messy, dirty hoarders, and children instead of women! And she'll probably need free space in order to let Entitled Boy hoard stuff in her room as well as his own, I guess. Because I bet this show thinks men are allowed to hoard! Also, the fact that her room is stereotypically portrayed as this messy and dirty obviously and very logically means that 'her whole life is not in order'.

-Now come the clothes: 
The stylist has begun throwing stuff indiscriminately away in a garbage bag (clothing and non-clothing alike), ignoring the cries of protest from Jona. She is suddenly offended by the fact that Jona has flat shoes lying around: 'The ugliest men shoes I've ever seen in my life *cringeworthy strident laugh when Jona says she likes them* They're disgusting'. Comparing a woman's wardrobe to a man's wardrobe seems to be the worst hurt Jona and her 'inherent femininity' can receive, apparently, and it goes both ways, too (with it actually being worse the other way round, because to compare a man with women or anything remotely 'feminine' is like the worst insult to their oh-so-strong masculinity, because it's a literal insult to be 'like a woman' to begin with). Also, interesting that anything remotely comfortable is always called 'unfeminine' - only men can wear comfortable things without being stigmatized! 

Any shoe without stiletto heels is a MAN-SHOE! The horror!

Meanwhile, Jona is very happy indeed that the stylist is throwing away her stuff  - and out the window, no less!

Throwing things out the the window...You walk around feeling classy, but that certainly isn't. And your ‘sass’ is not funny, it’s rude as fuck.

'I don't feel that you're a grown woman when I look around. There's a lot of childlike things, a lot of mess, a lot of hoarding'. You need a man, darling. You'll become a grown, mature, clean woman who doesn't hoard as soon as you get a boyfriend. You’ll probably be cleaning his own room as well, too. It's what women do, after all. 

'I've got a team of people who are going to come in and work a little magic'. So she's going to have a team of people completely rearrange her room. Talk about invasive behaviour yet again.

While the stylist's Capitol team completely change Jona's bedroom in a charmingly invasive way, Jona is taken to the store to find clothes that actually make her look like a woman, someone a man might actually want to date! Featuring more gender stereotypes and body bashing:

More like 'moooore sexist bullshit coming this way!'

Enter her 'friends' criticizing Jona and her clothes. 'Always wearing long T-shirts that don't show off her form and sweatpants and maybe athletic shoes. She just needs some fashion help, I think.' Very nice friends she's got there. Very nice sexist brainwashing, too.

Because you must always show off your body to cater to the men! (definitely don't do it your yourself, though, that wouldn't be right, what a sl*t). You aren't allowed to wear baggier clothes, sorry. You must spend every single day of your life wearing tight clothing (but the uncomfortable kind that men like, don't be mistaken) so that the men realize you're actually a woman, available to them! (Obviously, This doesn't mean I'm pro-modesty, I'm NOT and I will criticize that issue to hell and back as well, I hate it when people make that simplistic assumption).

Another subtle comparison to remind us that Jona is dressed like an unfeminine, unkempt tomboy!  

'This Plain Jane plays it safe with her wardrobe, always wearing sweats and T-shirts (which makes people confused as to what her gender is, apparently). But if she wants her crush to see her sexier side (again, it's all for the man) she's gonna have to take a fashion risk with some skirts and heels'. Because the only kind of 'risk' a woman is allowed to take in life is wearing uncomfortable tube skirts and heels, whether she likes or not, in order to attract men!

Me too, Obi-Wan, me too.

And once again the stylist is the one who's dictating the style she must wear and how a woman can look 'sexy' (and you're not a control freak yourself? Talk about double standards). What happens if she doesn't like heels or skirts and that's it, no negotations allowed? I guess she'll just say ‘awesome!’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘it was my own true style all along’ when you've forced her into the new style, anyway. That’s how the logic of this show works. With non-consent being received as an epiphany everywhere.

Just like what happened with Cristen, the stylist makes use of her 'classy' 'wit' and proceeeds to make fun of different styles Jona chooses, calling any woman who doesn't dress in heels and skirts, once again, 'unfeminine'. Yay. It's also pretty cruel and mean to tell her to pick stuff when she's just going to criticize all her choices afterwards anyway.

You know, personally, I hate the stylist's style. We certainly have different views on what it is to dress 'in style'. And we have totally different views on what is ‘beautiful’, ‘stylish’ or ‘attractive’. I think that she chooses garish stuff I wouldn’t touch with a five-foot pole and I wouldn’t wear most of her preferred stuff if they paid me for it. But here's the thing, to each their own! Do I tell her what to wear? It’s not my damn business! Why can’t she do the same? But no, her actual job is about telling other people what to do, and her style is the only universally ‘good’ style, it's the rest of women who are taking the wrong choices.

'I bet she chooses these!' The horror of a person actually choosing her own clothes! Yay for shaming people for not having your exact same likes, narrow-minded stylist. Ugh.

'So Jona is your classic sporty chick [which seems like a bad thing? Also, are you implying that 'sporty' women are all messy, unkempt and dirty because they like casual wear and sporty stuff??], who wears her sweats not just in the field, but everywhere else in life! I just want to step outside her comfort zone [WHY??]. I want to put her in clothes that are tighter and brighter'

And like in episode one, here we have Jona showing the stylist what she has chosen and being rudely bashed for it every time. You're not even sassy, what the hell, you're just rude. And dogmatic.

Class™

And also, it's not about 'feminine'=the amount of skin showed (as opposed to wearing 'baggy clothes that don't show her form') either, because Jona chooses this and the stylist is immediately horrified. Maybe because it's actually a mobility-friendly, comfy look, and not 'sexy' enough, so not something the men will be attracted to because there are not tube skirts, cutesy stuff or heels around!

This is not 'sexy' enough because it's comfy!

Poor naïve Jona takes the stylist at her word and tries to be 'risky' with a quirky look that suits her personality (and that the stylist, horrified again, promptly associates with Oliver Twist), but it turns out that what the stylist really meant when she said 'risky' was this:

All women need to wear flowers, skirts and pink cardigans to show the world they're actually women!!

And then...'Oh, the lady is in the house!' Because only when you wear a floral dress and pink cardigan can you be called a woman. Oh wait, it's too girly for her, let's try to bring out a more 'sexy' side.

'This is more casual'. WAT

The stylist's definition of ‘casual’ includes, wait for it, stilettos. Yes, that’s right. Freaking stilettos, one of the most uncomfortable and mobility-impairing shoes in history, are part of a freaking 'casual' look. Wow.

And as usual in these episodes, Plain Jane suddenly realizes that the compulsory feminine style was her style all along! It's so obvious that this is scripted because how the hell are these girls so nonchalant about those freaking heels when theoretically they hadn't ever worn them before? Those things are freaking uncomfortable and it's not easy to walk in them either!

'You look so hot right now! You look a million miles from the girl I met at the café.' - 'I feel really sophisticated' - 'Do you feel sexy? You look so sexy!' - 'I didn't know this could happen!'. Because only when you wear a tight minidress and heels can you be feel 'sexy', and like a woman. You must conform to a single choice of style, and wait, if you show your body it's not for yourself, it's for the crush, so don't you think this is really about loving your body and showing it off, the stylist proved that when she attacked the short jumpsuit Jona chose. So if you're looking for that kind of self-acceptance, self-esteem and self-love, this show definitely isn't the one for you. No, really, it's not.

As in the non-consent plane experience, Jona has come to realize that tube skirts, dresses and painfully thin and high stiletto heels were her preferred style all along, so burdened with this second glorious epiphany and a lot of 'feminine' and 'sexy' clothes and uncomfortable shoes, she makes her way back to her....transformed bedroom, which is now a posh and proper room, fitting for a 'grown-up woman'. It's impersonal and even dehumanized. All her stuff is gone. All right if it needed cleaning a bit (and we also have to take into account the cliché of the 'dirty, unkempt woman without a man'), but did you really had to erase her whole style and create a whole new one? (hey, that's the exact point of Plain Jane, after all). That's so invasive. But Entitled Boy would find it more welcoming and would be 'willing to stay overnight', so I guess that's the important part!

And of course Jona loves it! The logic of this show, remember, is that women like non-consensual experiences and changes if someone pressures them enough into liking them!

Wow, thank you for throwing away all my stuff and completely changing my own bedroom!

 'Jona, meet the laundry hamper'. Let us bash 'unfeminine' women as dirty, messy women again. I understand that with the grand total number of two brain cells the sexism of this show is not able to come up with a whole lot of new ideas, but come on.

This show is full of Andersons

So, now that she already has the bedroom and the clothes, Jona must learn to welcome flirting and 'ladylike manners'. So she must dress sexier, be cleaner (because only women who dress in skirts and heels are clean, apparently), have a more refined boring room (with no hoarding or interesting, personalized stuff), and...welcome sexual advances whether she likes the guy in question or not. 

-Discussion-rant: I hate it when they force young women to be all flirty and sexy, leave them the hell alone! Not all girls are attracted to the idea of sex and relationships in the same way (or at all), and not all handle these situations in the same way.  Brainwashing young women so that they think that if they don't cater to the men by being adequately flirty and sexy then they're 'self-conscious, miserable prudes' is SO WRONG. Also, it's not like you wouldn't call a woman who likes flirting and dating a 'slut' when she doesn't fit your submissive model, is it?  At the end of the day, a patriarchal.based society makes it so that everything a woman does is wrong: If she likes dating (especially if it's casual dating) she's a 'slut'; if she doesn't have a particular liking for it, she's a 'prude'. It a no-win scenario (like the sexist version of the Kobayashi Maru *sorry xD*).

And Jane Tiberia Kirk doesn't believe in no-win scenarios!

Another thing - It’s not freaking necessary to wear heels and tube-skirts in order to date someone. In fact, if it’s not your preferred style that you wear on a daily basis, I would say it would be toxic to change your style just for a date. The man's (or date's) tastes don’t come before your own. Never. Never ever. Dating (and assuming we're talking about more longish-term relationships) is not about changing so that you're attractive to a man, or at least it shouldn’t be (talking about heteronormative relationships here because that's what the show is about, but this issue can also apply to any queer relationships as well). Some women don't like flirting (I, for one, don’t, not in the conventional way society views 'flirting'), every woman should have their own clothing style, their own way of being 'sexy' if they want to be sexy, that is, and their own way of speaking with men, if they want to speak with men in that context. You don't have to tutor them into a single way of responding to all these, because we're not all the same, and we’re not men’s playthings, either. We don’t have to be tutored, goddammit *insert grumpy Bones face*. In fact here it is:

This mindset is not only creepy, it's misogynistic as hell because they're freaking telling these girls that in order to be in a  relationship they must learn to cater to the needs of men and entertain them and you can't get more regressive than that. 

Now, like in episode 1, Jona is being told to get more comfortable around guys by segregating herself from them. Hanging out with guys in a more equal footing creates 'the friendzone', remember. You can only hook up with a guy if you learn how to flirt and seduce and entertain them. And you must be neither too forward nor too coy. All very logical and very simple. With no double standards present.

I love Jona's 'friends', they tell all sort of nice stuff about her all the time. Jona has no luck with men because she dresses in sweatpants and doesn't know how to flirt correctly. 'Jona was having a burping contest with a guy, and a I really hoped that it wasn't her trying to flirt, but I think that it was'. Keep on creating that gloriously three-dimensional stereotype: The opposite and only alternative of a high-heeled sexy woman who seduces men with her charms is a messy, dirty, unfeminine tomboy who burps. OK, great.

So, another male flirting advisor. And they're gonna do the same thing, train her to flirt in a 'womanly way' under threat of zapping her. So cool, right?

And yep, already in heels. Interesting how the girls never complain about how uncomfortable they are, and in real life, they should. Not only because many are uncomfortable as hell, also because if it really was the first time these girls wore heels, they should find it a bit more difficult to maneouver in them!

This episode's version of the flirting experience is not about talking to random guys walking their dog (Cristen), but about speed-dating, which apparently is an asset every girl should have. Tips to succeed: 'Keep the conversation very light, flirty and fun. (...) Make sure that you ask questions, because guys love to talk about themselves (and it's all about what they want and keeping them entertained, they don't even try to hide that fact). If you feel yourself talking too much about yourself (the gods forbid!!), ask them a question (and let them talk for as long as they want!). No matter what, I want these guys to walk out saying they met a lovely girl .' 

Let me instruct you about how to cater to men with the aid of my male entitlement

So the usual stuff, then. Listen to men, let them talk about themselves, and never, ever interrupt them or bother them with your voice or your conversation topics. Those don't matter. You're here to listen to them, to entertain them and to be their passive, sweet, submissive object. That's what a romantic relationship seems to be about in this show.

The correct way to enter a relationship is to endure some entertaining Geisha training before! With electric shocks!

And what's more - they haven't given her normal guys for her to meet. Nope. They’ve given her freaking creepy weirdos. 'If she can handle these guys, she can handle anything with Jonathan'. Cool, so the plane casual harassment wasn't enough. She must speed-date talk with horrible creepy guys in order to realize that's it's not so hard to engage with Entitled Boy, because in comparison Entitled Boy will be magnificent. Sounds legit. And abusive.

This is 100% out of order

The flirting 'expert' and the stylist begin monitoring Jona as she has to engage with these guys one after the other:
-'Awkward silence' - zap. Because it isn't awkward at all to be meeting random guys in a speed-dating place. Especially if you actually didn't choose to do so in the first place. The gods forbid she's human and finds the experience awkward.

-'Ask the guy some questions!' The thought of the guy actually being interested about her (apart from her looks, I mean)! It isn't wrong for the guy to stay in silence, either. He isn't being awkward - or zapped!

-'She sounds a little condescending'. Guys can be condescending to you. You can't, you have to take the guys seriously and be interested in what they're saying. Even if you're not. Especially if you're not.

-'Stop slouching, sit up'

-'Make eye contact with the guy!'  

-'Don't look so disturbed!'  The gods forbid women be able to express when they're uncomfortable. The logic of non-consent again.

-And one of these guys goes - 'I've never dated an Asian girl before, this could be really fun for both of us. How do you feel about one-night stands?'

WAT

Oh, great, a racist jerk who wants to treat her as an 'exotic novelty' to use and discard :/ So part of the training is basically enduring freaking sexual and racist harassment from creepy guys ('She's doing very well'). Ugh!

-'This isn't a job interview!' Don't talk about anything that's not 100% shallow and superficial!

And they're also sort of playing with the guys, unless they knew beforehand. Now that these type of guys would care, though. And I don't really feel sorry for them.

The cringeworthy flirting training over and the stylist thinks that Jona has learned 'the stuff I wanted you to learn for the big day with Jonathan tomorrow' (so basically putting up with harassment and entertaining men no matter how boring or dumb they are? Sounds...very liberating). Jona is feeling 'a lot more comfortable' about the whole date issue (wow), so now it's time for the actual makeover, starting with the hair. And they're going to cut her hair, obviously (for the full rant, see episode 1 here).

So yes, her natural hair won't do. The male hair-stylist asks her about her daily hair routine and both he and the stylist laugh in a pretty condescending manner when Jona says she doesn't do anything special (the stylist doesn't either, but of course he's a man and doesn't need to be high maintenance about his appearance). 'You need something a little bit different', the hair stylist claims, 'To be like kind of flirty, (...) and a little bit more elegant'.  That seems to be equal to shorter and heat-styled, somehow. Because nothing is ever fine to begin with! If it's long-ish, it must be shorter, if it's short it must be longer! If it's straight (and thus 'lanky'), it must have waves, if it's too 'frizzy' it must be heat-straightened to death! Wonderful methods to boost a girl's self-esteem! Plus they also make sure that they'll be buying (horrible) products in order to alter their hair forever and ever, because they'll want to keep doing it in order to cater to their crush! 

While Jona's hair is being changed without any of her input being taken into account (she wasn't even asked to begin with, as per usual), the episode turns to glorifying Entitled Boy again ('really smart', 'really nice', yadda, yadda, yadda). Getting boring - and full of double standards - here.

The hair stylist is a proud promoter of sexist and unequal relationships, too:

'You got a hot date? (...) So we need to do sexy hair'  Because of course, her hair is for her date to admire and her hairstyle is 100% oriented towards that, with no input from her part and the need to actually change it because of the dude.

Also, she is going to start waxing her eyebrows and upper lip and do her nails now she's going to have a man in her life!

'You are going to have to start to train yourself to go more like a routine when you wash your hair. Because now you're going to have a new boyfriend, so you'll have to look fabulous every day' 

Yes, I get it. She has the additional pressure to look good everyday because she owes it to her boyfriend. That also suits you because she will be paying lots of check-up visits to the hairdresser's now, right?

Use your vaporizer now, Missy!

The stylist raves at her new look and then - on their way to finish the makeover with the make-up and dress+heels - proceeds to pressure her into realizing that she 'only has one shot' and that she wants her to 'nail it right'. Getting a man is a compulsory achievement if you're a woman, so that makes Jona suitably nervous, and to that she adds the fact that she's worried that she'll loose her friendship with Entitled Guy if she's rejected. Pressure upon pressure, it's so nice to be a woman in this show!

After the hair comes the make-up, also a compulsory requirement if you're a woman. At least the make-up guy actually asks her a little bit about what she prefers! But yeah, as much as I personally enjoy make-up as a form of artistic expression, women should not be forced to wear it all the time (or ever), and least of all for a man (or anyone else) you want to hook up with.

(Also, for a make-up artist and hair stylist that work with celebrities, once again they don't seem to do that much of an spectacular job or anything, the make-up's pretty amateurish, imo - but OK, cool, after all the logic I've been having here I guess this is not surprising xD Anyway, off topic)

Once again, Entitled Boy isn't asked anything more than to be there for the date. No transformation from his part, he's already cute and smart and all around great already! He just has to turn up in the clothes he has chosen, and choose whether he wants the relationship or not. What a great life, right? 

He still finds time to whine, though: 'What if I don't like the random girl and have to turn her down, how awkward!'. Like dude, no one forced into this, no one asked you to change anything about yourself, and you're able to choose, the hell are you complaining about, privileged dude?

Also, pretty interesting that he apparently liked Jona all along, and yet -
1) Never told her either. She gets a makeover and her personality and likes are mutilated, but his aren't. He's not labelled as a shy Plain Joe because of that fact. Men can bide their time! Huge double standard.
2) Seems to be 100% cool about going on a blind date with a stranger (so he thinks) in spite of liking Jona! Jona is obsessing about Entitled Boy all the time and everything she's doing and being made to do is for him. Meanwhile, Entitled Boy is cool about hooking up with a random girl. Oooo-key.

She's just wearing different clothes, make-up and has cut her hair - But she's a new Jona! Now happy because a man will notice her!

Jona's makeover is finished, the stylist is 'really proud of how far you've come this week (...) you've become a new person' - She's been talked into and forced to do everything, but OK, see it as a woman's ultimate accomplishment, why not. She also mainly emphasizes the fact that she looks 'beautiful' and 'so hot', so that's the kind of accomplishment a girl should be looking forward to, I guess. And now she's ready at last to 'get out there and go get your man' because now that she's sexy and have conformed, she's worthy of having a man and the man will be able to actually view her as a romantic option!

Male entitlement evaluation time!

And, like in episode 1, Entitled Boy suddenly realizes he's 'in love', because Jona looks beautiful and sexy now! Wow. Like he says 'we've always been open and talked about everything' - doesn't sound like it, dude, if Jona had to do ALL THIS so that you would notice :S - and 'I kept hoping it would be you', but dude, don't give me that Nice Guy talk when you can only react now that Jona has gotten a makeover!

 Jona finds Entitled Boy handsome, but other things as well, she keeps commenting on how kind and smart he is (he doesn't look it if he can only ask his crush out when she's had an invasive makeover, but OK) and so on. And she's the one who has to emphasize just how she values his friendship, how kind and awesome he is. He says something along the same lines as well to seem like he's 'sweet' and 'awesome' like everyone keeps telling us, but hey, let's remember that his first and most important reaction was 'wow, you look beautiful', so that means Jona still needed the makeover even though Entitled Boy had been thinking about a potential relationship before as well!

Because it's usually that he felt the same but didn't say it either in this show. But they're not called to have a makeover and a transformation to 'face their fears' and 'find the courage' to tell the girls, no. Also, you would think that if the Entitled Boy of the day already kind of fancied the Plain Jane of the day, she wouldn't need the makeover, but she does, because the Entitled Boy of the day is always oh-so-impressed when seeing the post-makeover Plain Jane of the day, so they're actually hypocrites as well as privileged Nice Guys.

As a man, I'm entitled to ponder and choose about the situation! Knowing that in the end I'll always be acclaimed as such a Nice Guy

Jona, of course, is so relieved, grateful and happy that Entitled Boy actually finds her 'overwhelmingly beautiful', it's sad to see how this kind of brainwashing creates this level of emotional dependence and longing for affection. It's one thing to be glad or flattered that someone you like finds you attractive, it's a whole different level to be that grateful and over the moon because of it, like it looks as if it's all this girl was asking of life and now everything's complete, she has a man who thinks she's beautiful and who wants her. It's all pretty toxic and quite problematic to make a woman feel like that.

And again with the (condescending) chivalry of him helping her to sit down. The recompense she gets for changing her whole persona and maintaining it every day from now on is the dude helping her to sit down. Well, I guess moving around is stilettos is hard. That's actually an important reason why men like women wearing uncomfortable, mobility-impairing heels, women suddenly need help moving and become way more dependable, and that makes men so happy, apparently.

Condescending gallantry ftw!

And "happy ending" once more: New style and behaviour for her (heels everywhere, of course!), glorification of gender roles, and no change for him. Yay.

Yay heels and gender roles!

Wow, after all this sexism I think I need a break from Plain Jane for a little while xD But I'll be back to wreak more feminist snarky havoc into this horrendous show asap, don't worry!

Critisizing Plain Jane: Jona part I

Continuing after a brief-ish hiatus with my snarky reviews of the horrendously sexist 'Plain Jane' makeover show, here's part one of the second episode! (Many topics will be repeating themselves, so the reviews of the remaining episodes of season 1 will probably be a bit shorter than the posts about the first episode).

Former posts:

-Introduction on why I hate these kind of reality makeover shows

-Opening credits

-First episode (Cristen): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

So...let's begin:

JONA (‘NO RISK JANE’)

-Sexism in the title: The cliché of the ‘obsessive-compulsive’/'bossy'/'control-freak' (woman), which, according to this show, apparently refers to practically every woman who speaks her mind and likes to keep her own lists, her own decisions and her own standards about things in her life.  Something that, in my opinion, is highly positive (gender-neutral problems of stress and perfectionism aside), but apparently not if you’re a woman. If you’re a ‘control-freak’, you’re unattractive, and you’re probably not going to get a man (which is a big deal), not only because of the inherent ugliness of wanting to control your own life, but also because it means you’re also going to be self-conscious and ‘awkwardly dressed’.

Starting with the episode's brief initial sneak-peek, we can already spot a lot of similarities with the Cristen episode:

• Like episode one, this one starts with a young woman dressed casually and sans make-up. The very opposite of what we're looking for in a ‘feminine’ and ‘sexy’ woman who wants to date a guy!    After all, what this show is trying to drill in our heads, apart from the fact that a woman without a man is nothing, is that a woman who dresses this casually and in such a natural, carefree, and comfy way is 1) ‘not sexy and feminine enough’, 2) Messy, sloppy and not taking care of her appearance,  and 3) Shy and self-conscious. And being 'shy and self-conscious' means, obviously, that she's in desperate need of guidance when it comes to ask a man out. 

She wants to be 'spontaneous'! Oh, and, you know, 'womanly'. We all know a woman's not a woman in casual wear and without make-up!

-Discussion-rant: Confusing personal style with gender stereotypes: 

I hate this show's twisted idea that dressing casually is equal to being 'shy', 'messy' and 'unkempt' (and of course, 'unfeminine'). We already know, thanks to the first episode, that all women have a very narrow set of compulsory femininity options in order to be considered 'women' and 'attractive', and many of them seem to be on the mobility-impairing and uncomfortable side (heels, tube skirts, tight clothing).

In real life, we all have our own style, disregardless of our sex and/or gender. Some people prefer to dress in a more formal/less casual way (me, for example, I'm the kind of person who welcomes the excuse to wear a suit and who wears trenchcoats with stretchy miniskirts with booties to go to the mall), and some people’s style is more casual on a daily basis. Both styles are very much allowed to include 'comfort' - the opposite of ‘casual’ isn’t the stiletto high-heeled, tight tube-skirted model the show promotes as the only ‘good’ one for women. And ‘casual’ does not mean ‘careless’ or ‘unkempt’, either. And I know it’s so surprising, but there are quite a few women who actually don’t even dress for the men, you know?!

So let’s not create wrong, illogical and simplistic gender stereotypes linking our dress sense and general style with our personality, for heaven's sake. According to this misogynistic show, there are only two options, the 'good' option and the 'bad' option: 1) ‘Sexy (but their definition of 'sexy') and for the men’ ("good") and 2) 'Shy and awkward because she doesn’t know how to cater to the men’ ("Bad". In need of assistance). 

• Her apartment and room are messy, so she must be an 'unfeminine Plain Jane' without love in her life ('This is...revolting!!')
• She is forced to 'face her fears', again in an unnecessary and ridiculous way which also teaches women to totally choose the wrong priorities in life ('If you can do this, Jonathan is nothing')

Viewers are able to get a kick again out of watching a frightened woman having no control over her actions!

• She is told to change her whole clothing style in order to attract the guy. As always, sexiness (and self-objectification, because she obviously doesn't do it for her) is the key. 
• She is told that she must learn to flirt and entertain men. Bonus of having to deal with the racism of the guys in a speed-dating totes healthy class ('I've never dated an Asian girl before')
• Makeover, haircut very much included (because these girls always need a haircut or extensions, nothing's ever fine to begin with).
• The pressure of risking losing her 'friendship' with the guy unless she's deemed 'feminine' and 'beautiful' enough for him to consider her for a romantic relationship. Final decision's his, as usual, with her risking losing him both as a friend and partner if her make-over isn't successful (also featuring the simplistic idea that people in a romantic relationship are the complete opposite of  'friends', as if both things weren't compatible or something - As a demisexual, huge pet peeve here).

Totally judging you here. Male entitlement TM

• Sappy, hypocritical brainwashed 'romantic' ending. 
• And the stylist is the same obnoxious sexist individual we have come to love in episode 1. 
• And again, we don't really care about her job, studies or personality. As long as she gets a sexy makeover and a man, she's complete in our eyes, right?

The episode finally begins after this fascinating sneak-peek full of the same boring sexism:

Like we said, this episode's protagonist victim is a young girl called Jona who is dressed casually, and obviously is going to pay for it in a moment (just...the nerve of it!).  This time, she does mention something about her actual life (she's an art student), but don't worry, that's not going to come up again. Not important.

Here starts the 'control freak' part. Jona is stressed and 'really needs' the stylist's help 'in all different ways' because she wants to be 'in control of everything', and we're not talking about gender neutral perfectionism, overthinking or OCD issues here. This episode makes it quite clear that if you're a woman, making plans about your life and generally having agency about your actions totally stresses you out, makes you lack any spontaneity and transforms you into a crazy control freak with - look for it - no love in your life! Because women are apparently really delicate and volatile (crazy?) people who get stressed out easily if they're trying to make plans about their life or be in control of their decisions! Jona says, in a grief-ridden tone, that 'it always stresses me out so much [being in control], I always have to plan and if I don't I freak out. That's why I never take any risks in life (risks=asking a boy out, don't think it's deeper stuff), and that really holds me back'. And this sentence is followed by, I kid ye not, this:

Decision making and planning stresses women out so much!

Way to be subtle about your sexist bullshit stereotypes, Plain Jane! And we're just started on the episode!

Cut out the horseshit already, Plain Jane

Jona's lack of spontaneity is also reflected on her wardrobe - She isn't catering to the menz enough because she 'likes to play it safe'! In this edition of  'Are we really living in the 21st Century? Aka Is this sexist bullshit for real?' we learn that wearing T-shirts is unfeminine (yes, really) and earns you a dramatic 'Oh nooo!' from the stylist. 

She's so ashamed of owning multiple T-shirts - What is wrong with this world??

Interesting that both Jona and Cristen need to justify their casual, 'unfeminine' choice of clothes. Cristen said she 'dressed like a guy', Jona says she wants to ‘play it safe’ with her clothing as well as with her life (but that she wishes she could be more spontaneous – and ergo, supposedly also more ‘womanly’ and 'sexier', I guess). And so, the stylist gives us the first display of her despair when shown Jona's choice of clothes. So basically, one of the aims of this show is to attack women who dress casually, equating them to women who are shy, self-conscious, repressed and in need of spontaneity in their lives, or who only hang out with guys and, therefore, friendzone them because the men are not sufficiently allured by them and mistake them for their bros (eyeroll). All of them incapable of getting their crush because of their wardrobe choices. The stylist of course decides that 'She needs the help, that's for sure'.

-Discussion-rant: And we also have to be careful about the 'I think she looks great without X' sentence, because many entitled dudebros are appropriating that initially empowering phrase that intended to go against the need to wear X (a clothing style, heels, make-up, you name it) in order to be 'attractive', turning it into another controlling form of entitlement ('you look better without make-up', for example). That being said, I actually do think Jona looks lovely in all her natural casual glory. Let no obnoxious fashionista/man/woman/anyone tell you you don’t look great like this if you like to dress in a similar way, or if you prefer not to wear make-up or whatever. And same if you do like to wear make-up/less casual clothes/whatever. You don't need to change your style to please anyone! 

Enter the crush, aka Entitled Boy. Like what happened with Cristen, Jona remarks that her crush is 'cute, tall, sweet' also focusing on his appearance. But also 'extremely smart'. Is Jona smart? We don't care. In this show, the fact that she mentioned that she's a student and what she studies is already like really subversive, so it's not like we can hope for more (also, instead of doing some studying or something, what Jona actually does every night is stalking Entitled Boy's Facebook and squeeing about how cute he is).

Enter the 'friends' whose turn is to bash Jona's character. Entitled Boy gets all the positive traits and is never criticized, but what do they choose to say about Jona?: She has fear of failure and is a control freak.   Basically all that is highlighted are ‘negative’ aspects of her, plus her unfeminine style, all in need of a sexy, 'confident' makeover. We never learn that these girls are smart or find out about their personality in a positive way, and we don't get the opposite either, where are the shy and awkward guys who wants to ask a girl out? (that wouldn't be 'manly' enough!).

Jona goes out to meet her future stylist and the camera slowly shows us her entire outfit and appearance from shoes to hair in an obviously disapproving way - Because I suppose that wearing trainers, sweatpants and her hair in a messy bunned ponytail is so unfeminine, jeesh. The stylist scathingly asks if she's been on a run, and when Jona tells her that she just finds that kind of clothing comfy, she freaks out. Apparently, it's only acceptable to wear that kind of 'casual wear' if you've just gone on a run. The fact that it's 'comfy' isn't a valid option. 

The clothing bashing this show so loves continues, as the stylist exclaims: 'You came to meet your fairy godmother [facepalm] who's going to help you with style and fashion wearing sweats with ink splashed all over it. You're winding me up?' . Because ‘casual wear’ goes always hand in hand with ‘unkempt, dirty and messy’, apart from 'unfeminine'. Obviously.

Logic, logic everywhere here!

'Can you take your hair down, show me your hair a bit?'  I'm evaluating you here!  Also, wearing your hair in a comfy way (messy updos and the like) is not a good move, who cares if you're comfy and/or if you like to wear your hair that way. Apparently, you're not making an effort, and it's every woman's job to keep their hair and body attractive to the menz! Messy updos? Updos, period? Ewwww.

'When was the last time you washed it?'  Again - Women who wear casual clothing apparently wear it splashed with ink and don't wash their hair! ‘Unfeminine’ women who don't wear ‘sexy’ clothing for the men are dirty, unkempt unhygienic and wear stained clothing! SUUUUURE. Why would  a woman be interested in keeping herself clean unless she was making herself up to be seen by a man? The thought of it!

Interesting that she actually asks a bit about her personality! But her question is full of offensive sexist stereotypes already. She's so messed-up because she likes casual-wear and doesn't have a guy, so, ‘are you the shy girl?’ ‘The nerdy girl?’ (thanks for saying being nerdy is a wrong thing if you’re a woman, that’s another famous stereotype I so needed to hear. Plus you obviously don’t know what being ‘nerdy’ even means! Being a freak, I assume you're assuming). 

So this 'personality' question has helped viewers to arrive to this wonderful stereotype: The girls who focus on school must be shy girls with dirty hair and unfeminine clothes, with the optional addition of some parents who prevent you from dating.

Professor Badass McGonagall is having none of your crap, Plain Jane

'Let's talk about your love-life. How many dates have you been on in the past year?' Didn't talk so long about her personality there, even in order to create ridiculous sexist stereotypes (plus she actually didn't have any time to tell you anything about her personality, but anyway).  OK, so why does a woman have to present you a list of a sufficient number of dates for you to consider her worthy? Maybe a woman's just not interested in dating until a specific moment? That doesn’t mean she has to be a "hopeless shy case of an unfeminine woman"! And maybe another hypothetical woman isn't interested in dating now, or ever? Maybe her sexual orientation is also different? Maybe she's demi or asexual?  But this show's sexist narrow-mindedness obviously doesn't take such things into account. The horror!

It is concluded that Jona is shy and unkempt because she likes to study and doesn't go on a sufficient number of dates, so the stylist takes it unto herself to be a 'fairy godmother' and help her poor charge out by arranging the blind date with Entitled Boy. Again, this is a process in which the supposed 'confident-to-be' girl doesn't have any agency at all.

Yeah, not at all.

And after the very logical fact that the guys always accept these blind dates from complete strangers calling (I guess they want us to tell us that 'manly, macho' men are always happy to date anyone, and who cares about who she is...as long as she's pretty, of course), we continue glorifying Entitled Boy. Jona has fear of failure, panics a lot, yadda, yadda, yadda, but 'Everybody loves Jonathan. Very polite and very debonnair.' Classy, sweet, talkative (and Jona's 'friends' remark that he's great for Jona in that respect because she's 'such a great listener'. Guess we all know who's going to do all the talking post-makeover!). All good things, many about his personality. As usual, he doesn't need to change a thing about himself - Including the fact that his body type is probably what people could call 'plus size' if he were a woman. But even though societal fatphobia and body shaming does affect men as well, men are generally allowed to be thicker or bigger without the extreme societal repercusions women face. Hell, the cliché of the 'bigger guy who is entitled to the gorgeous thin voluptuous girl and if she friendzones him she's a self-centred shallow b*tch' is still going strong! 

But I'm not privileged at all, you know?

Dubious process of stalking Entitled Boy, and teaching women the 'feminine' methods of being indirect at everything. Also, this show repeteadly teaches us that communication, consent and an equal footing in a relatioship are not goals to strive for, not at all.

This is the healthy way to approach someone!

He's in the library, and apparently that doesn't put his attractiveness or masculinity at risk! Oh my gods, and he isn’t portrayed as ‘shy’ or ‘unkempt’ because of it! But they've more than implied that the fact that Jona focuses on her studies is more bad than good. That a woman who likes to study is probably a shy nerd with dirty clothes and hair, who doesn't have love in her life and is miserable about it. Not a double standard here, oh no, my Precious.

 "Double standard? I don't see any double-"

Jona's personality, the fact that she prefers to be in control of everything she can, is going to have to change, primarily because that makes her shy about asking Entitled Boy out, for some (oh so logical) reason. I can also interpret this as a criticism of women trying to be in control of things - they are often called 'paranoid', ‘bossy’, ‘control freaks’ (a bit like the bashing Clara Oswald in Doctor Who receives during season 7.5 and 8, actually :/. Thankfully, season 9 appeased me for season 7/8’s sexism on this respect)- And they're also 'in need to loosen up' because of it, while men are usually encouraged to be in full control of their lives.

 Clara Oswald has her eyes on you, sexist Plain Jane!

'With no guts there's no glory'. Apart from the ridiculous idea that people (and especially 'manly' men) somehow have to prove to the world that they're 'tough' and 'brave' and 'cool' - and that doesn't involve interesting, deep stuff, but mainly being reckless and using bravado in the wrong situations-, there's too much meddling with people's personality here (some people like taking more risks than others, and no one should be forced). It reminds me of something I HATE, when people try to change an introvert into an extrovert. That really doesn't work by forcing them to do things out of their personality league. Being out of your comfort zone isn't always good or beneficial. And forcing someone to do that usually demonstrates lack of empathy, narrow-mindedness and controlling urges – Actually, while Jona is being labelled as the ‘control freak’ for wanting to be in control of her life, the stylist’s the one who should be called that, because her job revolves around controlling and changing  other women’s lives all the time!

Oh, snap!

Ah, the phobia torture experience! Oh, how we've missed it! Jona is now going to be doing outdoors skydiving in order to let the control out of her life and summon her will to face her (arranged) date! So logical! So healthy! I'd like to know, what's exactly the link between not being a fan of high-excitement sports and being apprehensive about asking someone out? Like I said at the beginning of this post, methinks the aim of this stupid 'first step in your transformation', as the stylist puts it, is just to add a scene where people can get a kick out of seeing a woman being frightened, freaking out and having no control over her decisions.

Jona ty to resist with no luck the first step in her transformation: An unnecessary dangerous sports session!

You know, you really need to stop treating women like weak, self-conscious, paranoid beings who are not capable of making a decision or summoning their will to do something, unless they've been forced to face their biggest fear before.  Also, some people are shier than others, and you know, we should also respect that, respect that some people have more difficulty at some situations  and need more time than others. And some people don't like high-risk or high-excitement sports, and that doesn't make them less able to face situations in life. Forcing shouldn't be an option in any case, for anyone, unless the situation were critical and really asked for it. Which is not the case here.   Also, I find it fascinating that the stylist gets offended and goes 'you didn't call me so that I would just put some mascara and lipstick on you'...like, that's one of the main parts of the term 'makeover'? Forcing make-up (and other things) on women in order to attract a man?

'This is the first step in your transformation (...) not taking risks is holding you back. Not just with boys, forget about Jonathan for a second (but only a second!), but with life! If you can do this, Jonathan is nothing. (so it's not really about life, the main thing is Entitled Boy)'

So she basically has to jump off a plane in order to summon her courage to ask Entitled Boy out. Doesn’t anyone else think this is utterly ridiculous? Also, she isn’t even asking him out, she’s attending an already arranged blind date with him! For heaven's sake!

I know you do! Me too.  

'I met you a few hours ago and now you're making me jump off a plane!' And you're still not running away, Jona! How many red flags do you need?

The lack of logic and empathy in this scene is simply outstanding. We get the stylist saying things such as 'No tears! Smiles' (yeah, someone facing a phobia needlessly must be so happy) and 'This is the biggest thing she's ever done' (and it's oh so necessary).  In the plane, Jona complains about being nauseous and not being able to breath well, and the guys in the plane are really patronizing, rude and actually harass her - We get sentences such as ‘I'll give you a free t-shirt if you pee your pants’. Where the freaking hell is these guys' professionalism??

WTF

While Jona is literally screaming her head off at 12,500 feet above the ground, the stylist really seems to be enjoying having Jona experiencing 'no control'. 'She must so be really freaking out right now'. This is no way to 'conquer your fears', you know. Nor is it a necessary or logical moment to 'face your phobia'. You face your fear when you must, and when it's necessary contextually. This is simply another way for the sexist viewers to have fun watching scared women without any control over their decisions. 

Smirking guys vs terrified girl. I find this scene pretty disturbing.

Also, Jona's biggest fear, according to the stylist, is not 'fear of heights', but 'not having control'. So the cure for that is basically non-consent, which is what's happening here, and it's actually potentially triggering and very problematic, because what we get is a terrified Jona yelling 'No!' while the guys manhandle and drag her out of and off the plane (and the stylist saying 'She's conquering her fears, this is it!'). Which is totally not cool, because if this is OK, then where do these people put the line in other non-consent issues? Does she need to get sexually assaulted next in order to get rid of her need to be always in control?? Also, Jona ends up 'enjoying' this, despite having been forced to do it, which is a twisted argument that also comes up in sexual assault issues all the time, for example.

For once, Spock and Bones both agree that there are many things that are very much not OK with this scene

'Yes! She did it!' Like, did she have any other choice??

And suddenly she enjoys it and finds meaning in her life thanks to having been forced to jump off a plane ('That was aaaaaawesome!!! I feel great! Thank you for making me do it!'). Then the stylist remarks that she just risked her life, so that makes the date with Entitled Boy 'not such a big deal'. All the dazzling logic again. The script continues to surprise with its originality...and problematic issues.

I found meaning and bravery in my life thanks to non-consent. Now I'm ready to go on an arranged date!

So yeah, we all need to go fall off some planes after getting harassed by some dudes in order to feel like asking someone on a date is not a big deal.

Part 2 coming soon...ish