Speaking of "New Girl(s)..."

by B Condon 2:30 PM

Did you know there's a war on femininity? Well, according to Entertainment Weekly contributor Melissa Marez who interviewed Zooey Deschanel for March 2012's feature on the changes going on on my favorite quirky comedy "New Girl." This is how Marez, with the best unbiased journalistic insight says about anti-feminist comments said about my Goddess Zooey by comedian Julie Klausner....

"...Deschanel doesn't want to engage in what she view as a self destructive fight waged by women against women... For her, this is just sexism disguised as a war on girliness."

Wait, huh? There's a war on girliness and I didn't know this? As a follower of Zooey's love for cupcakes, silly noises, and floral sundresses, I have to make two points, one about the show and the other on this "war on girliness."

New Girl's New Attitude?

I would have had this feature done a whole lot earlier but I had to catch up on New Girl, having been working most Tuesday nights. After a magnificent 2 hour marathon with the grand finale of Winston's "black man speech" which I have NEVER laughed so loud at a show my whole life (well next to Scrubs, and that's hard to live up to) I don't see any flaws or something more under Jess Day's character. 

What a sitcom does is start with their typical characters and they end up changed to some degree towards the end of the show only to snap back into their typical role.  I understand how that could bother some people but with sitcoms you really have to sit back and enjoy the ride.... much like driving the man-bulance to the Mexican border to find your room mate is having sex in the trunk. 

So to say if they are questioning Jess Day's incessant cheerful demeanor by associating her character with "not being real" as Nick says WHILE DRUNK and needing to lash out at someone. It has no bearing on her character but everyone's need to exclude her because of her quirkiness which will always be there. Much like life, it's all about the circumstance that makes the 6 year old bully attack her own teacher Mrs. Day because she has insecurity issues or Nick's girlfriend getting annoyed with Jess for being the type of  person with the "whole thing with the cupcakes and the breaking for birds and the 'bluebirds come help me dress in the morning." It's a sitcom! 

The idea of New Girl and especially Deschanel's character (other than the fact she plays an over exaggerated version of herself) shows that we live in a cynical world and there are some people that aren't cynical, who aren't afraid to act like a little kid because it's that attitude that will help you live longer. I shouldn't defend it as hard as I should when Marez tries to shows both sides of a "New Girl" revolution -- there hasn't! The cynical room mates and the very sexual Dermot Mulroney as Deschanel's new love interest on the show beat Deschanel down because of her positive outlook given the sitcom's plot of the night. That's all it is, we don't need to build it up to be more than it is. Because the more the sitcom goes on (getting a full season and a second to follow *happydance*) the more we will see behind the male room mates; we've had little glimpses that Deschanel is saving their lives but like a glass half filled or half empty, it's all about mindset. But remember Marez and those who do not like the show because it's too "cute," IT'S A SITCOM!"

"Just Sexism Disguised as a War on Girliness"

Sitting at my favorite coffee house looking at the March edition of Entertainment Weekly, hoping to find a new obsession to write on in the Vspot list, I find three words that catapulted me into almost yelling out "What?!" in complete shock over the three words: "war on girliness." 

This is no stranger to me, although never being blatantly attacked for being a supermassive girly girl -- people have only respected me more because three years ago you would never see me in a dress and I didn't know how to make a good cat-eye because I was 30 pounds heavier and miserable as a recent college grad. Losing the weight brought me to wear dresses and even show off one of my best attributes, my legs, and shopping for clothes a lot more plus diving into my quirkiness, I found myself. 

We all have our individual stories about why feminine women love being women, there's a quiet double standard (a quadruple standard if you're a feminine woman who sleeps with women, God don't EVEN remind me) that we are not being "visually feminist" which is really unfair! But this isn't a new thing, but because of the Entertainment Weekly, the band-aid has been ripped off and like Billy Crystal said in the Princess Bride, there's lemon juice squeezed right into it. 

Last year, Bitch Magazine commentator and blogger s.e. Smith wrote a great article on this topic "Get Your Antifeminiity Out of My Feminism" and observes the following which immediately made me think of this article laying in my bookmarks while reading the New Girl article...

"Femme women are viewed as less-than and people say things like ‘I can’t take a woman in heels seriously because clearly her commitment to feminism is lacking.’" 

****"Antifemininity is misogynist. What you are saying when you engage in this type of rhetoric is that you think things traditionally associated with women are wrong. Which is misogynist. By telling feminine women that they don’t belong in the feminist movement, you are reinforcing the idea that to be feminine and a woman is wrong, that women who want to be taken seriously need to be more masculine, because most people view gender presentation in binary ways. "****

"People talk about slutshaming and how it does not belong in feminism. They talk about victim blaming and how it does not belong in feminism. And then they turn around and penalise feminine women." 

****"Some trans women are femme, and experience conflicting pressures between being told by ‘feminists’ on the one hand that they can’t be feminine, and being informed by society that they must femme up in order to ‘pass,’ in addition to navigating their own relationship with their gender."****

And this is just a few points, the whole article is fantastic, everyone should read it. For a "non-binary" blogger like s.e., she makes really good points that this is a forever-charging war. But I have a tiny conflict with her saying that some of us "choose" femininity. Isn't there a third option on that bubble sheet, like D. I'm my own brand of feminine and I'm just being what comes naturally to me? But that's besides the point .... the relevancy to "New Girl." 

So Marez brought up a very harsh subject for those who want to dance around in sundresses, winged eyeliner and be who they want to be... oh and heels. (Allow me the following rant) Nevertheless, I can't wear heels too often but think of it this way -- women give birth to the world, have been praised in pre-Christian times and are scientifically proven to be more multi-taskful, organized, bolder, so why not wear heels to add to that proud burden? 

You're reading a girl who can load film equipment into a large television van under 5 minutes in a dress, somewhat high heeled boots and yet execute it with perfect dress-wearing etiquette (with a purse flung around the shoulder). Not to mention being one of the four women who work in a very testosterone-filled television division.  That's what being is a woman is all about -- so why do women have to hate on each other while keeping their individualism and opinions? It's all about execution and allowing Deschanel to do her thing, if you don't like or understand it, don't watch it after one episode and keep your opinions to yourself... and maybe your blog.