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Emma Rosendale

Mrs. Storer

English Honors III, Block 1

January 23, 2019

A Man’s World?

In the eyes of men, women are often expected to do what they want them to do. In 10

Things I Hate About You, the 1999 film directed by Gil Junger, women are faced with the men in

their lives trying to influence what they do, and they react differently to them. Kat and Bianca

Stratford, who live Seattle, have a very strict dad. He said that Bianca cannot have a boyfriend

until Kat finds one. Cameron is the new kid in school and is immediately enamored by Bianca.

He learns of the rules set by their father and comes up with a plan to find Kat a boyfriend. While

all of this is going on, both girls find themselves acting in different ways towards the men in this

situation because of their different mindsets. In the film 10 Things I Hate About You, some

women conform to men’s expectations while other women defy those expectations. However,

their reasons for doing these opposing behaviors stem from the same source: a longing for

happiness.

In the film, some women follow the status quo when it comes to what men like. Bianca is

judging her sister for acting the way she does towards those around her and Kat replies:

“You forget I don’t care what people think”

“Yes, you do” 

“No, I don’t…you don’t always have to be what they want you to be you know?” 

“I happen to like being adored, thank you” (Junger 00:25:20-00:25:33).

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Bianca is the kind of girl that likes attention from those around her, especially men. She knows

that if she conforms to the stereotypes of what a “girl” is then she will be liked by her peers. She

knowingly does what everyone expects her to do. Bianca conforms to the sexist society that

surrounds her because she knows she will get the attention she wants. Her willingness to

conform to the sexist society she lives is also shown when Bianca is asking her father to go to a

party, but he says that she cannot go unless Kat goes too. Bianca is upset because she claims that

people are anticipating her being at the party, so she turns to Kat and asks her:

“Why can’t you just be normal?”

“Define normal”

“Bogey Lowenstein’s party is normal” (Junger 0:39:09-0:39:15).

Joey, the most popular guy in school, the boy Bianca was interested in, told her to go to the party

because he was. Her longing to go to the party shows how the men in her life control her actions.

She wanted to go to the party so bad that she begged her antisocial sister to leave the house so

she could go hang out with a man who was giving her attention. Although Bianca has a

predisposition to letting men control what she does, her sister takes matters into her own hands. 

On the other hand, the main character, Kat, is an example of someone who strays from

the norms found in a sexist society. When Kat is sitting in the car with Patrick, he asks her about

her relationship with her dad:

“So, what’s up with your dad? Is he a pain in the a**?” 

“No, he just wants me to be someone that I’m not” 

“Who?” 

“Bianca” (Junger 0:52:20-0:52:28).

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Kat’s father wants to control her and her life. She always puts up a fight when they talk about her

future. Kat sees that her dad wants her to be someone she’s not. Instead of being submissive to

her father’s wishes, she goes against his vision for her. Unlike her sister, she does not want to

please the men around her all the time. Her disinterest in pleasing the desires of the men around

her is also shown when Kat and Bianca are talking about why she does not want to go to the

prom. Kat says, “I’m a firm believer in doing something for your reason and not someone

else’s”, Kat continues to tell her sister about a time when she was intimate with Joey because

everyone else was doing this too, but it ended badly. She told Joey she did not want to be

intimate with him again he got upset, then she says, “After that I swore, I would never do

anything just because everyone else was doing it” (Junger 1:15:26-1:16:36). After Kat saw what

happened after she followed what the rest of society was doing, she wanted to do the opposite.

She willingly does the opposite of society is telling her to do because that is what makes her feel

the most empowered. She will not do anything because of what others will think of her. The

taking control of her body shows that she does not conform to the sexist society she lives

in. Though Kat and Bianca are on different sides of the spectrum when it comes to dealing with

the men in their lives, they both have a longing for true happiness.

Although the sisters differ in how they want society to see them, they both want

happiness at the end of the day. In the film, after finally getting her dad to let her go to a party,

Bianca spends the night with Joey, a self-centered male model who only cares about taking

advantage of her. Bianca realizes that she does not like being around Joey and asks her friend,

Cameron for a ride home. She ends the night with Cameron, a boy who genuinely cares about

her, and she kisses him goodnight, after he confesses his feelings for her, because she realizes

that he is the right one for her. Bianca recognized that Cameron is the one who made her happy,
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even if he was not the most popular guy in school. Before, Bianca would act in a way that would

grab the attention of those she wanted to impress, but now she sees what kind of people she

wants to be around. This shows how ultimately, she wanted to find happiness instead of

conforming to the sexist society she lived in. Even if it meant losing her reputation, she would

still rather be with Cameron; someone who made her feel good and not make her look good.

Regardless of her hostile tendencies, Kat also has a longing for happiness in her heart. While she

is on a date with Patrick, the only boy in school that has the strong personality to match hers, he

asks her:

  “So, what’s your excuse?” 

“For?” 

“For acting the way, we do?” 

“I don’t like to do what people expect. Why should I live up to other people’s

expectations instead of my own?” (Junger 1:07:58-1:08:10). 

Kat acts in the hostile way she does because she does not want to be unhappy trying to please

anyone else. She constantly disagrees with her father, and anyone else who has a different

opinion than her for that matter, because she wants to be happy, so she does what she wants. 

Kat and Bianca are different are in many ways. Though their actions both result from the

same desire. In the film 10 Things I Hate About You,  some women conform to men’s

expectations while other women go against those expectations. However, their reasons for doing

these opposing behaviors stem from the same source: a longing for true happiness. A woman

should do as she pleases if it truly makes her happy, regardless of if her actions fit into the

society she lives in, or what the men in her life want.
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Work cited

Junger, Gil, Karen M. C. Lutz, Kirsten Smith, Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt,

Larisa Oleynik, Larry Miller, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Daryl Mitchell, Susan M.

Pratt, Gabrielle Union, and William Shakespeare. 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999.