We live in a day and age where many of the media that we can consume daily that contain a majority cast of women are often portrayed in such a hostile and harsh light upon our society; shows like Baddies portray women, especially women of color, as violent individuals who do nothing but party and downgrade each other. Reality competition shows like Love is Blind, where the majority of the male cast completely disrespects these women in such outrageous ways. Then, some of the women are portrayed as “helpless puppies” that just need affection from males. It is even as sudden as just popular female characters being portrayed in some sexual way despite the description of the character not fitting the way that they try to present the character to the audience. We often run out of inspirational media that gives us realistic but uplifting pictures of what being a woman is like in this society. Despite all the obstacles and things like that we have to go through, it is not beneficial to us mentally to be always consuming such harmful representations of what a woman should act like. Not only that, but you also have to remember that our younger generation, who is constantly consuming these harmful forms of media, Is receiving a false reality of what adulthood is. I remember the day The Jersey Shore was a top-rated show. And a lot of people around my age group, when the show was popular, used to believe that being an adult meant being able to go to the beach and party and have no responsibilities growing up when Bad Girls Club was also a popular show, my friends always used to have “fights” to replicate what we saw on the show. These shows have entertaining qualities, but we must also remember that constantly consuming the same negative media daily will negatively impact how we view ourselves and the people around us.
As a binge-watcher, I found some TV shows that provide our daily dose of entertaining television while giving us positive representation and uplifting female characters that we can relate to and grow with.
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Sex and the City (1998-2004)
Sex and the City is an American Romantic Comedy-Drama television series created by Darren Star on HBO. The show follows the lives of four 30/40s-year-old women who go through life struggles such as sexuality, social issues, friendship, and much more. All of the women in the show are professional businesswomen with different career paths and relationship statuses, and they get together and support each other through their struggles and accomplishments. This show accurately represents what friendship with females should be like. Despite the ups and downs with the connection between you and your friends, they still are there to help you out, and even when life has its ups and downs, you can always fall back on the people who love and care for you the most. You only see a few times throughout the shows running where the friends have fallen out; if you do, you see them healthily communicating their differences. Despite this show being launched in the late '90s, I still feel as though a lot of the themes that they tackle in the show are very relevant today, and I find myself from time to time watching specific episodes back because it's not only entertaining but it's also more relatable as I got older.
Living Single (1993 - 1998)
Living Single is an American Television sitcom created by Yvette Lee Bowser on the FOX network. The show follows the lives of six New York City friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in Brooklyn. Like Sex and the City, the show shows a healthy representation of female friendship while being business professionals. The only difference between the two shows is that Living Single has some male characters mixed in the friend group, showing a healthy friendship between women and men. As I write this article, I can’t think of any modern show now where the show doesn’t add that storyline of “ omg, they secretly like each other the whole life; they are in a romantic relationship!” Not all male and female friendships are like that, and you can have a healthy connection with your male friend without thoughts of being together romantic even popping up.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021 -Present)
The sex lives of College Girls is an American teen comedy-drama created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble on HBO. This show follows the lives of four 18-year-old freshmen roommates from different backgrounds, economically and ethnically, who became close during college. The show talks about the themes of college and adulthood hardships and struggles. This would be a fantastic show to watch if you are in college. It shows an accurate representation of life in the dorms. While watching it, Reminiscing on my old college days when I lived in the dorms, I brainstormed with my roommates how to study for my final while not missing this college party tonight. It also talks about topics like sexuality, sexual assault, and many other things that people in college struggle with, and I feel like they tackled these topics very smartly so that you don't feel triggered. Still, at the same time, you're also educated on what to do if it happens to you or somebody around you. As well as it being very entertaining, you're going to find yourself watching this whole series in one day (trust me, I did)
Insecure ( 2016- 2021)
Insecure is an American comedy-drama television series Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore created. The show is about the black female experience from the perspective of two female protagonists, Issa and Molly, who have been best friends since college—the story follows two women in their late 20snavigatinge career and relationship experiences. I have my opinions about the show, but I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything for the people who haven't seen the show, so I keep my comments to myself. Besides my personal opinion about when the characters on the show, the show does show an accurate representation of how to struggle and themes of adulthood, especially as an African-American woman. I feel like we live in a day and age with social media where we see a lot of people, significantly younger people, accomplish big goals, and it's broadcast daily that we feel as though, at a certain age, we should have our life together. The show truly represents how, despite age, it's okay not to have everything in order. It will not make you less than because you decide to change your career at a late age or maybe that relationship you wanted or have been with for a very long time starts to fall apart. It's okay to start now; I feel like that show shows a lot of themes, such as being open to new perspectives and change. It's refreshing to See the process of somebody realizing that they need to change in life and how it can initially be a sense of resistance, especially if we've been doing something for a very long time. I believe the show gives us a view of how that process looks and how it can be challenging at first, but it's still accomplishable if you stay consistent, and that's why I feel like I fall back when I show a lot as a comfort show to watch because it's very heartwarming.
The bold Type ( 2017- 2021)
The Bold Type is an American comedy-drama television series created by Sarah Watson. The Show follows the lives of three millennial women who work for a global women’s magazine. The show follows the young women who navigate their lives in the big city, including their career trajectories and romantic relationships. One of the themes that stands out for me about this show is the struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated field. I feel like that's a different type of struggle as women that we have to face because I feel like we have to work twice as hard when we are in these types of fields for us to receive the same amount of respect and honor that a man doesn’t work as hard as us will get. The show shows the struggles that a woman has to go through from a career point of view while staying afloat with her struggles and her daily life. The themes of sexuality, relationships, and overall power struggles in a business setting are heavily discussed throughout the show. Suppose you're somebody who's just now starting your career. In that case, this will be an excellent show for you to start watching as it talks a lot about how to conduct yourself in emotionally draining professional settings and how to understand and Identify the beginning stages of experienced burnout.
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So log into your streaming account, use your ex’s, or find it online for free and start these shows together ( I know the links if you need them; just let me know😉 😭)