A slight change has been made on television shows for women and it has given us cause to CELEBRATE! Finally, the mass media is allowing series that are breaking stereotypes and staring more realistic relatable and non-white leading ladies. Shows like HBO’s “Girls” and FOX’s “The Mindy Project” both star actresses who are not the average model type, high-end white women, and both series seem to be dominating pop culture.
“Girls” is a show about a group of women living in New York, fresh out of college who are struggling with their love life, sex life, finances, and careers. The great thing about “Girls” is that it touches every aspect of what real life young women in, or out of the college experience.
The plot is definitely more realistic compared to the typical getting the guy you want, wearing high-end clothes and shoes, working at a place you love, and having regular hook-ups.
Some say “Girls” and “Sex and the City” are similar. I disagree. The only similarity I see is that in both shows are four women living in New York. Despite their pragmatic New York lives, “Girls” star and creator Lena Dunham, portrays a much more realistic image than her counterparts in “Sex in the City”. Dunham is not the average “it” girl for television. She doesn’t have the “perfect, size 2” body that we are so used to seeing. She doesn’t wear the trendiest of clothing and her man, well he is just a hot, weird mess that she can’t resist.
HBO is known for its nudity in their series of television and film, and Dunham does not shy away from showing off her bare body in explicit sex scenes. She appears to be confident in her own skin despite not having “the model type body” that the audience, specifically men, usually want to see. And that’s what makes it so inspiring- the fact that she’s is so comfortable in her own body, in her own skin.
“The Mindy Project” is another hot new show that breaks the pattern of typical leading women in a series. The show stars Mindy Kaling who plays Mindy Lahiri, a successful doctor who is struggling with her love life and trying to get her personal life back on track before her friends give her an intervention. Mindy is definitely not the average, white leading actress we’re used to watching on the small screen. But that’s what makes the show more interesting.
We rarely see women of color as leading ladies on screen, especially women with curves! Much speculation has been made whether, or not these women (seemingly unattractive in the media’s eye) will live up to the audience’s expectations regardless of their talent, or plot of the shows. However, both of these shows are taking over the small screen and frankly, we’re loving it! They break those stereotypes of women we’re used to seeing.
Both shows are way more intriguing and funny with girls who are realistic, girls we can relate to. It’s so refreshing to find new role models out there for young girls, many of which who do not fit the standard, white, size-2, gorgeous stereotype. With that said, both shows have my vote. Who run the world? GIRLS!