In this scene from Mean Girls, Gretchen is asserting power while telling Cady the rules she has to follow if she wants to be in their group.

Gretchen uses lots of declaratives to assert her power such as “you can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week” which gives Cady no alternative so she feels she has to comply. This gives Gretchen power over Cady because Cady isn’t able to go against Gretchen and do something alternative because there isn’t anything else other than not do it and that would be breaking the rules.

Gretchen also uses the lexis of fashion, using words such as “tank tops” and “jeans or track pants” and this asserts power over Cady because she is showing that she knows what she’s talking about which may make Cady feel less powerful if she doesn’t, and more inclined to go along with what Gretchen is saying because she doesn’t want to get it wrong.

Gretchen also uses the Face Threatening Act by threatening Cady’s face when she says “so I guess you picked today” and “you wouldn’t buy a skirt without asking your friends first if it looks good on you” which shows she is assuming that Cady follows the same social rules as the rest of the group, and if Cady doesn’t then she will look stupid and be embarrassed that she isn’t doing the right thing, so she will do what Gretchen is implying she should do.

Gretchen also uses the modal verb “if” when she says “if you break any of these rules, you can’t sit with us at lunch” which makes Cady want to follow the rules and do what Gretchen is telling her because the consequence is made to sound bad and she would want to avoid that. This gives Gretchen power because she could say anything is a rule and Cady would follow it to avoid being kicked out of their group.