There is a prominent theme of a female character’s independence in almost every television show, and yet we continue to obsess over who she will marry in the end. Gilmore Girls, The Mindy Project, New Girl, Jane the Virgin, are among the myriad of comedy sitcoms featuring strong (and straight) female leads. All of those women prove their independence and yet, one of the major conflicts in the show is how they are unable to find and keep a man in their life.
Why you may ask? Because even the television industry is intimidated by their own strong females who have the ability to overpower a man but are not given the opportunity to do so. For some reason, a female who can succeed on her own cannot be shown to do so. Her weak spot is always a love interest that at times becomes the central conflict.
Take "Gilmore Girls," for example. Lorelei Gilmore has proved time and time again that she is fully capable of surviving without a man, so ultimately no man stuck (besides Luke, spoiler for those who have yet to hop on the bandwagon) in her life because of it, not until the end of the series that is. The equally independent Luke was the only one that Lorelei had that appreciated her free will. And yet, even her independence was overpowered by one man: Chris (another spoiler, sorry). The theme of her and Rory’s independence was at times overshadowed by the question of who they will ultimately end up with when they are just as capable to end up on their own. Television proves to us time and time again that a female cannot be single in the end, because then what would be the point?
In The Mindy Project, Mindy Lahiri’s relationship status is what ultimately drives the show. She is a smart and successful obstetrician/gynecologist who is overpowered by almost every man in her life, including her fellow doctors. Her personal life even becomes a joke to those in her office, because although she is a powerful woman who proves herself to be so with her job, she is looked down upon by the men because of her whining about her romantic life. She still has to prove herself to her male coworkers, and they will not truly treat her equally until she shows them that she can “keep a man”. She has the mindset that she has to have a man in her life in order to consider herself truly successful.
That seems to be another theme within this issue - that in order to fully succeed, they have to prove to themselves and those around them that they are able to be in a relationship. A strong female is still too intimidating, television and film just manifests this within funny jokes. Confident is considered sexy, but too confident is off-putting. These independent females are all inspiring to young women, but the underlying message that she needs to be in a relationship proves that men are still overpowering even the most independent, and this is a problem that needs to be fixed.
