The Hulu series Dollface, which surrounds the modern day lives of 4 working women in LA, released its second season on February 11th. The series uses metaphorical humor and satire to explore the power of female friendships. But through its otherwise comedic and lighthearted surface, there are still many lessons to be learned from the show about what it means to be a woman. Warning: spoilers ahead.
1. You can always find yourself again
The series opens with the main character Jules Wiley (played by Kat Dennings) who gets dumped by her boyfriend of five years. Realizing that she has pushed away all of her friends in favor of her relationship, she has to work to reconnect with the women she used to be friends with, even making new ones in the process. Classified as a socially awkward introvert, Jules has to overcome metaphorical hurdles in order to find the parts of herself she had suppressed while in a relationship. Jules represents a lot of women, who find themselves so invested in their romantic relationships that they’ve lost sight of who they really are outside of it. But Jules soon realizes the value of spending time with other women, and in turn finds her true self again.
2. It’s okay if things don’t go your way
Jules’s best friend and college roommate Madison Maxwell (played by Brenda Song), is a Type A, uptight PR expert who plans for everything. Her life is playing out exactly as she planned, but there’s one curveball she didn’t anticipate. Her boyfriend, Colin, who she begins dating secretly in season 1, is actually married. When she learns that he lied to her about the status of their marriage, Madison falls apart. But even though things weren’t going as planned, she still manages to pick herself back up and keep going. We always try to plan for the future, but nothing prepares us for the inevitability of things going differently. Being able to bounce back from something like that is a true test of character, and something Madison teaches all of us.
3. Your life always has a path, even if you have to pave it yourself
Characterized by Stella Cole (played by Shay Mitchell), this is a lesson a lot of us could learn from. Stella is the party girl of the group, who notoriously ends up in wild situations with celebrities (Alexis Rose, anyone?) and is a freelancer who doesn’t hold a job for very long. However, Stella isn’t taken seriously by many, including her friends and her own mother. Wanting to take control of her life and her future, Stella applies to business school on the east coast and eventually lands a coveted internship in corporate finance. But it doesn’t take long for her to realize that corporate finance isn’t her calling. In a chance encounter with Liv (played by Lilly Singh), Stella comes up with the best way to incorporate her business acumen in a way that’s true to her – opening a bar for women. While still maintaining her sassy, stylish side, Stella establishes herself as a successful entrepreneur and a career woman. While this isn’t the path that Wharton School of Business had for Stella, she managed to create her own niche in the industry, something we can all aspire to do.
4. People will love you more for being yourself
One of Jules’s coworkers, Izzy Levine (played by Esther Povitsky) joins the group after admitting to Jules a big secret she’s been hiding. Izzy deals with heavy insecurity and goes out of her way to be liked by two of her fellow coworkers whose names are both Allison. Izzy lies and claims that her name is Allison as well in order to be a part of their group. But the lie spins out of control and her entire workplace identity strays from who she truly is. Eventually, Izzy comes clean and is accepted more by her friends and coworkers for embracing her true self. We can all relate to the struggle of being ourselves when wanting to be liked by our peers. But what Izzy teaches us is that people will always like us more if we stay true to ourselves.
5. There is more than one way to be a feminist
In an episode inspired by an old classic (season 1, episode 9), the characters of Dollface become the actors of a modern-day Wizard of Oz. On the day of the Women’s March, they each hope to meet the event’s speaker in hopes of finding the answers to their problems. For their own reasons, each of the main characters of the show feel that they aren’t being good feminists and hope the mysterious speaker can help them. But when they actually meet the speaker, they are disappointed to learn that there is no magical piece of advice that will help them become good feminists. The speaker instead hints at the beauty of feminism in giving a freedom of choice to women, and that there is not just one way to be a feminist. This episode really stuck to me because of how many times a certain action or belief is associated with being a bad feminist. Activist Roxanne Gay coined the term “bad feminist” in her series of essays published in 2014 on the many levels of feminism. Not being a certain type of feminist doesn’t disqualify you from the movement, a lesson this episode encapsulated perfectly.