Stacey -- follower or leader?

[Penny Lane]

One of the things I really like about Stacey's character is how "real" she can be shown as. Sure, she's an only child living in the city who has a private school education and shops at bloomingdales. But she's also not queen bee of her group, and she struggles with many of the same things that I struggled with in regards to moving around a lot.

At first, I thought it was kind of strange that, on the bus to camp mohawk, she chose to read a book instead of socializing. But then I realized that I would probably have done the same thing if no one had sat next to me. I do think it's strange that she was read The Catcher in the Rye, but ... maybe that was just product placement for scholastic.

Anyway, my point is that sometimes Stacey is shown as being a bit of a leader -- running committees at school, etc. But she falls in line behind Laine and Kristy and is fine with having people tell her what to do. This is probably pretty typical of being an only, but so is bossiness and controlling. What do you guys think? Is Stacey destined to be VP of a company, or just an accountant who dreams of bryant park? Will she grow up to run a business or just work at one?

I'm thinking she's going to grow up and be a buyer.

[booboobrewer]

It did see like she was satisfied a lot of the time with being bossed around, by Laine and Kristy. I think falling in with Robert's group gave her a lot more confidence and the courage to tell Kristy off. Assuming a leadership role is probably not something that comes naturally or that she's comfortable with, but she can do it if she has to.

When it came to something school or work-related (signing up for the dance decorating committee or the Mathletes) she professed to not be much of a joiner.

[starrynight]

I'd put her somewhere in the middle. She's generally pretty independent, and good being the leader of herself, but she DOES take a backseat to more forceful people. Maybe that's because she just doesn't feel the need to always be #1 in a group, and is content letting that role go to someone who DOES place a lot of value on it.

[tiff85]

I think Stacey tends to go along with the crowd a lot. A perfect example would be Stacey VS. the BSC and Stacey and the bad girls. Stacey acted like a complete snob in these books. ugh.

[greer]

Apr 6, 2009 20:25:50 GMT -5 tiff85 said:

I think Stacey tends to go along with the crowd a lot. A perfect example would be Stacey VS. the BSC and Stacey and the bad girls. Stacey acted like a completely awesome snob in these books. ugh.

I think Stacey was generally a follower, while at the same time not being a joiner. She always ceded the role of most popular in her clique in New York to Laine, and then in the BSC, while she was, arguably, the most traditionally cool/popular girl, she wasn't really a leader there. With Robert's group, she was the new girl who had to prove herself. In terms of school/working, she never really took much intiative in activities, either. She also cared what others thought more than other members of the BSC.

I can see her doing well in finance.

[wenonah4th]

I think she's in-between, a leader if she finds no one else doing it but not generally.

[otempora541]

My theory is that since Stacey is an only child, she relies a lot more on her friends then those with siblings. Hence her willingness to go with whatever Laine (and even Kristy) want- be it auditioning another girl to the group or participate in a project. Robert's friends are a perfect example of that: Stacey found friends who were more like her, so she went along with them.

I see Stacey as becoming a well dressed engineer who will read Vogue on her lunch break. There's a non fiction book (female chuvansitic pig? buying girlhood?) that talks about how some girls drop their intrest in fashion to persue other types of intrests. I see that happen with Stacey.

[candykane]

At first, I thought it was kind of strange that, on the bus to camp mohawk, she chose to read a book instead of socializing. But then I realized that I would probably have done the same thing if no one had sat next to me. I do think it's strange that she was read The Catcher in the Rye, but ... maybe that was just product placement for scholastic.

But didn't she decide not to read the book because she thought she'd look like a total dork? That's what I remember. I also remember that she wanted to join in the conversation these other girls in front of her were having, but didn't. She told the reader, "I'm bold, but not that bold."

Anyway, I see her as more of a follower. She even admits as much in Welcome Back, Stacey. She says there that Laine was the leader of their group and they were all followers.

[Kylie90210]

She's one of those girls who is a follower in the grand scheme of things, but with her own clique, she's more of a leader. Not neccessarily the leader, but up there.

[greer]

I don't know if I see her as enough of a joiner to be a leader OR a follower. I think she's generally pretty and nice and smart enough to be in the upper eschelon of any group, but I really see her as more a lone wolf. As she said--the BSC was a big exception to that. She was in Laine's clique because she and Laine were childhood best friends, and she hung out with the "bad girls" because of her relationship with Robert.

[sparklymouse]

I don't see her as a loner. I think she scurried right back to the BSC after the Bad Girls incident precisely because she didn't want to be alone.

[candykane]

I think for Stacey, being a loner would have equaled being a loser.

[greer]

Perhaps loner isn't the right word--not that she didn't want to have lots of friends and stuff, but that she wasn't really either a leader or a follower, exactly.

[starrynight]

This topic reminds me of something that Greer would discuss on her blog.

[sparklymouse]

^I thought she started this thread, but it was Penny Lane. Sometimes they are the same person to me.