Social+Theory

Structural-Functional Approach- A framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.
 * Jessica, Keecia, Lulu, April, Hildenburg, and Eden all have diverse personalities and yet they coerce to make a great team. Jessica is in need of their help because she has turned into a man and does not know what has happened to her. Her friends all pool together around her in support and courage that they will figure out how this happened. As a team the girls all work together trying to discover how this happened and they bring out the best in each other, making their goal that much more accomplishable.
 * Jessica and April are best friends. When Jessica turns into a man,she turns to April first for help. She then stays at April's house until they can find a way to get her back in her own body. These two have been best friends since April moved from Arkansas, and they fully trust each other and work together to solve their problems.

Social-conflict Approach- A framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change.
 * As the movie begins Jessica is depicted as a "mean girl". She makes fun of other students and feels that she is superior to them. However once she is in need of their assisstance she realizes that they are unique in their own ways. Jessica treats Eden and Hildenburg as if they are outcasts who do not deserve to be treated kindly. By her treating them this way it motivated them to be mean and unkind back to her. Once Jessica becomes a man however she realizes that their unique personalities are a benefit to her and not a harm. Through the inequality that Jessica sees contrasting her to Eden and Hildenburg the characters are motivated to work harder to make changes in their relationship.
 * Jessica and Bianca's cheer teams are big rivals. When they try to interact it ends in a lot of conflict. Jessica's cheer team is perceived as the "underdog" group which makes them work harder in order to get back at Bianca. At the competition you can see the tension between these two teams because neither one to be the "loser". Jessica's team ends up winning the competition, which makes them more of a threat to Bianca's team and creates more tension.


 * As Jessica interacts with her friends she feels untouchable and superior to the rest of the high school students. This feeling of superiority shapes how Jessica treats the rest of the student body. She is very mean and inconsiderate of their feelings as the movie begins, however once she turns into a man she finally understands what it feels like to be different. Realizing how her actions have been affecting the people around her she makes changes to personality and becomes a much more sincere person.
 * Clive is a lowlife criminal in the movie. He is constantly stealing things and doing other illegal activity. Even when he's in Jessica's body he steals Billy's car and becomes the hot chick bandit. When Clive is the hot chick bandit he beats men up in an alleyway and steals their wallets. All of these actions add up and make him perceived in society as a criminal and a bad person that everyone should stay away from.