books – Skye Collacott Williamson

First Published via HUB Magazine when I was Culture Editor.

Date Published: 9th December 2022.

The film is set around Andrea Sachs played by Anne Hathaway who applies for a job with Runway despite her lack of inexperience in the fashion industry. She makes the point that, although she is not a fashion person, she is a writer and a hard worker. The beauty of this film is watching Andrea fall in love with fashion and her work.

One might overlook the gender roles in The Devil Wears Prada, simply thinking it’s a feminine job role. While the job itself is in a feminine field, the opening credits of the film show the women getting dressed and putting on their high heels whilst their husbands lay in bed asleep as they are the breadwinners. The film shows women prioritizing a masculine stereotypical drive and career over the feminine stereotype of family and community. As seen in stereotypically ‘masculine’ films, take Fight Club and The Wolf of Wallstreet, the women are seen as living on coffee and cigarettes while they ignore meals. They are too busy making money and focused on their career. It gets to such an extreme point that Emily (Emily Blunt) ends up in a hospital due to her lack of eating.

The film also portrays the importance of the fashion industry in terms of being proud of your sexuality and femininity. The Devil Wears Prada stars Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a powerhouse of a woman who is highly respected and determined. The film also portrays the masculine trying to take out the feminine, all the men except Stanley Tucci are after Miranda’s job and want to take her down. In fantastic brilliance, Miranda creates a list of models, designers, and photographers that will leave Runway if Miranda leaves. While Miranda is this powerhouse figure, there is a moment in the second act where she is vulnerable. She is dressed down and has no makeup on. This is where the audience acknowledges how strong a character Miranda is.

The women in this film are powerful and will not take disrespect from the men. My main point of this film is the portrayal of Miranda as the villain. Personally, I think that role goes to Andrea’s boyfriend, Nate, played by Adrian Grenier. I believe that Nate is there as a stay in to show how Andrea develops as person and changes. Nate does not want Andrea to continue working at Runway and refuses to support her at every turn. I was worried at the end of the film that they would get back together. Thankfully the writers knew better and allowed Andrea to discover her new interests.

The film also has an interesting portrayal of feminine friendships, the relationship between Emily and Andrea starts as a rivalry. Fashion and journalism are very competitive fields, yet Emily does help Andrea from time to time. At the end of the film there is a beautiful moment between Emily and the new assistant who is said to ‘have big shoes to fill’. I think it is intriguing that the film shows women supporting each other from a distance rather than obviously. My favourite moment of the entire film is at the end when Miranda and Andrea see each other again. Andrea smiles and waves at Miranda as she gets into a car, Miranda seems to ignore her, but we see the shot in the car when Miranda smiles. It is so simple yet brilliant.

David Frankel’s directing style is very simple and at times too many montages. I love the montage of Miranda throwing jackets each morning onto Andrea’s desk. This sets up a parallel for the second act when she throws her jacket onto Emily’s desk to show that Andrea is now the first assistant and will be going to Paris with Miranda. Unfortunately, the other montages do not have this same pay off.

The acting in this film is phenomenal and as it should be when it stars big names such Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt.

My main problem with this film is the glamorisation of eating disorders. Especially when a film is aimed for young girls, the celebration of Andrea dropping two sizes from the first to the second act is wildly inappropriate. When there are impressable young people watching your film, you need to be careful discussing disordered eating, especially in regards in the fashion industry. While it is a prevailing problem, it could have been addressed differently.

The Devil Wears Prada is one of the only films I would give five stars. I believe it is overlooked for two reasons. Firstly, it is a very feminine film with women on top and secondly it is a fashion film. I would describe it as a twenties coming of age film where you discover that your dreams are not rare. I have watched this film six times and I enjoy it more each time.

Frankel, David. The Devil Wears Prada. 20^th Century Fox Studios, 2006.

Fincher, David. Fight Club. 20th Century Fox Studios, 1999.

Scorsese, Martin. The Wolf of Wallstreet. Paramount Pictures, 2013.

First Published via HUB Magazine when I was Culture Editor.

Date Published: 18th November 2022.

The ResearcHER is a book inspiring the next generation of women to join research careers, written in collaboration with the Women in Academia Support Network (WIASN).

Founded in 2017, WISAN now has over 12,000 members in over 100 countries. It is a trans-inclusive and intersectional network for women who have lived through misogyny in their academic roles.

The authors of the book, Dr Kelly Pickard-Smith, Dr Amy Bonsall and Professor Elenora Belfiore, have overcome academic struggles to get to where they are today.

As Dr Kelly Pickard-Smith writes, ‘the book intends to not only inspire but also appreciate women’s contributions… developing new solutions, ways of thinking and being’. The book is easy to read, with short chapters offering an insightful view of researchers and exciting activities to do at home. The book also provides fun facts to offer a window into the lives of the researchers.

The book reveals the hardships of sexism in the research community, where ‘more than half of PhDs awarded are to women’ and yet ‘are woefully underrepresented in senior roles (2).

The book examines the research of diverse women as well. Fatima A. Junaid started a safe group for ‘Pakistani women in Academia’ and researched the wellbeing of Pakistani women. As is written, ‘We will hear difficult stories, but those voices need to be heard and known (11). Sarah Mohammad-Quereshi wants the reader to question our privilege in everyday life, as it is essential to understand how identity affects other people in professional careers (48).

While most of the researchers are heterosexual, Maria Maclennan identifies as bisexual. She aims to ‘leave the ladder down to help support other young women to take up more space in these areas in the future (22). Not only is it important for young queer women to have opportunities in these research fields, but it is equally important for them to have role models. As Melissa Anne Beattie (aromantic asexual) says ‘I’m at least able to show my students and my colleagues someone who managed to get to the front of the classroom while also being ‘different’ (41).

Jasmine Hazel Shadrack, who identifies as bisexual and is a late-diagnosed autistic, uses her research to focus on different ways to work through being a survivor of domestic abuse. As she notes, ‘that methodology has saved me, on more than one occasion (55).

Jennifer Leigh is the Vice Chair of the International Women in Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) which launched in 2019. It aims to bring a ‘social science and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) perspective to work with scientists to address marginalisation’ (59).

As Jessica Mannion notes, ‘it does not matter what you look like, if you have a disability or where you are from, you can still work in academia (67). I genuinely believe this book is inspiring to young women, especially neurodivergent women, as it shows that you can overcome the struggles and discrimination faced as a minority.