Is The Feminine Archetypes In Elizabeth Meriwether's New Girl

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The show New Girl developed by Elizabeth Meriwether, is a cultural artifact focused on the different archetypes of what it means to be feminine today. New Girl, Jess, is a very feminine stereotypical ‘girly girl’ who moves in with three single men, all of which have different feminine traits. None of the male characters; Nick, Winston, and (my personal favorite) Schmidt, are your stereotypical strong masculine characters, though they all seem to wish they were. Through the lense of a quirky sitcom, focused around circumstantial comedy, we can see what producers of the show say is “not meant to be emblematic of all women. Instead, a realistic, emotionally driven character”, who in their words is simply “Adorkable”. The show’s original title, “Dicks and Chicks” pretty much sums up what 20th …show more content…

Zooey wanted to show that even women who want glitter, ribbons, and cute animal backgrounds for their phones can still be great feminists. It begs the question, why in a world that wants women to be who they are and do what they want, do we find the need to shame women who are comfortable being more feminine than most? New Girl gives us a view into the life a very loveable character, Jess, who just wants the world to be a brighter and nicer place. Through the short 23 minute episodes, we see her struggle to fight a Chinese restaurant wasting paper, teach kids how to play “Eye of the Tiger” on jingle bells, and finally decide if Nick is the one she wants to be with --in my opinion, she can do better. While there may be better ways to view femininity than just the two main categories, I think the juxtaposition is justified in the fact that Zooey wanted to show the distinction between her character and the rift her personality creates with other women. This rift, being caused by the judgement of others, is the reason I think New Girl is a Cultural

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