Feminist Critique: New Girl

New Girl is a show about a girl who moved into an apartment with three guys in LA and they constantly find themselves in odd yet strangely relatable situations. In season one episode 11, the main character, Jess, has difficulty getting along with one of her roommate Nick's girlfriend. The two have nothing in common. Jess is a colorful, dress-wearing, cupcake-baking woman while Julia is a pantsuit-wearing lawyer. Because of their differences, they have a dispute over what it means to be a woman. This episode alters what it means to be both female and masculine.

The episode employs the idea that there is no right or wrong way to be a woman. Jess proclaims that she is "smart and tough and strong" and the fact that she said, “I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours. I spend my entire day talking to children, and I find it fundamentally strange that you’re not a dessert person. That’s just weird and it freaks me out. And I'm sorry I don’t talk like Murphy Brown, and I hate your pant suit and I wish it had ribbons on it to make it slightly cute." doesn't change that. The show is supporting the idea that feminism simply means gender equality and it doesn't mean you have to give up your personality to show you aren't following stereotypes. This idea is present again after Jess tells Julia about her identity as a woman. The girl who seemed like the powerful, cold one who shames other women for not acting as "tough" as she is, realizes that in order for them to get along, she can't criticize a Jess for being "girly". The show is also implying the same about feminism. If people believe there is a right and wrong way to be a woman then stereotypes will continue to define gender.

This episode also rewrites what it means to be a man, specifically the ideals of patriarchy and the tough "guy's guy".  In the beginning of the episode when one of Jess's male roommates, Schmidt, gets out the shower he gets mad because he believes the girl's products are making the bathroom air humid. Correcting him, Jess says, "80% of the products in here are yours." The fact that a man uses more product then a woman defies the rough manly guy stereotype, which the show often does. Later in the episode, Nick and Julia get into a fight and both rush to the bathroom to cry. I especially like how they both had the same reaction rather than one being the exaggerated version of the other.  It rejects the phrases "boys don't cry" or "don't cry like a girl". This equates genders and says that women and men are both human beings and as human beings they experience the same emotions. Its normal.

Part of the definition of feminism is that their is no definition for gender. The main idea of feminism shown in this episode is that people should do things because its their choice, not because it is what is "expected" of them. This episode, while showing the lighter side of daily human experience, still has an important point to make about gender in society. Don't follow or change yourself because of stereotypes.