Mad women: how angry sisterhood is taking over the small screen

At the start of the new drama Good Girls, we see an adorable little girl scream “we need to burn this patriarchy down!” and soon after we are introduced to three very different women, all angry at various types of injustice: a philandering husband, a very sick daughter, a sexually harassing and abusive boss. In the world of Good Girls, empowerment is not only about standing up for yourself, but also about standing with the sisterhood. In one scene, Beth (played by Christina Hendricks) gives her husband’s mistress a tongue lashing, but then also gives her money, saying: “We both deserve more than a liar in a pig suit.” In another, Beth hears the attempted rape of her sister by her corrupt former manager and comes at him with a toy gun. When he calls her bluff, she hits him on the head with a whisky bottle.

Throughout Good Girls, female rage is not just a response to personal pain, but a reaction to oppression, and a necessary catalyst for change. Today we see a number of programs explicitly inviting viewers to identify with female protagonists who have unresolved traumas, many of which come from a history of assault and abuse. This is true in comedies such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, where typically cheerful Kimmy is encouraged to wrestle with her angry feelings about being abducted, and dramas such as Jessica Jones, which in its second season continues to explore how Jessica’s anger shapes her healing process. Similarly, shows such as Orange is the New Black, Big Little Lies, and I Love Dick not only make complicated women into heroines, they also allow women to stand together and stand up to men who dominate, belittle and harass them.

Source: theguardian