Progress at a Halt

Twenty- something year old women have been increasingly pervasive in popular culture: from fashion to food, to men and slang. But for the most part, the sitcoms marketed towards this girl centered type of entertainment seem so superficial.  The New Girl, Two Broke Girls, and Girls are all just examples of this surface level silliness. The characters are contrived and while they positively portray women as sexy and comedic and edgy, that’s all I really see them being portrayed as.

 There are also sitcoms that portray women as driven, intelligent, successful, and just as complex as any other character on the show. Some of these consist of Parks and Recreation, Law and Order, and The Office. Although I would prefer the latter options over the former, there are still issues that need to be worked out; none of the successful female leads are mothers. It’s impossible to do both right? – For women anyway.

Women have made some headway in the media, and it has taken long enough. Lucy, from I Love Lucy, wasn’t allowed to say that she was pregnant during the show, only “expecting.” I Dream of Jeannie and Gilligan’s Island were the first shows that aired apparently scandalous navels, and Anne Marie from That Girl refused to make her season finale a wedding- to reinforce that is not every woman’s primary goal.

But where have we come since the 60’s and 70’s? The progressions of women on television and in film have not been very significant. The statistics for women in the top grossing films of 2013 are grim. Women make up 29% of major characters, 15% of protagonists, and 30% of all speaking characters. Cate Blanchett justifiably rips Hollywood in this article for treating women as a niche audience and for making little to no progress in casting women as major movie roles. http://www.thewrap.com/cate-blanchett-women-little-progress-landing-major-movie-roles-study .The article reveals that it is not looking good for women on Broadway either.

In Culmination, it would be nice if this girl power movement, the rise of women in comedy, and “2013: the year of women and TV”, would actually make some legitimate progression. If Hollywood and Broadway would give women more serious roles, if the serious women portrayed on TV actually had a life outside of work, or if the female leads in sitcoms weren't so superficial and bad for your health.