4 Reasons Why Gilmore Girls Will Forever Be A Feminist Utopia
Time has done little to diminish my love for Gilmore Girls, the show that defined my high school years and (if I’m being completely honest) my 20’s. In high school you could find me at 4:30 p.m. each afternoon curled up on my parents worn leather couch, book bag tossed askew as I settled in to hear Carol King croon the familiar opening credits, “Where You Lead I Will Follow.” It has been eight years since the last episode aired, and now, thanks to Netflix, I can revisit my favorite small town of Stars Hollow any time I please. For seven seasons, I was completely transfixed as the show followed the relationship of the quick witted, coffee obsessed Lorelei Gilmore and her Ivy League bound daughter, Rory. Chronicling Rory’s high school years and her eventual trek through the hollowed halls of Yale, the show never ceased to provide the perfect balance of quirkiness and refreshing banter that I continue to watch again and again.
It wasn’t just Lorelei’s never ending music references or Rory’s insatiable love for books that continued to draw me in each afternoon, it was instead the entire feminist universe which Amy Sherman-Palladino, the show’s creator, was able to bring to life. A world in which the abnormal family is the most functional, where the smartest women sit at the top, and a place in which the relationship between mother and daughter, despite its ebbs and struggles, remains steadfast in defining who they are as individuals. If you haven’t seen the show yet, go watch it now because I am about to spoil almost the entire series for you. There are many reasons why I would consider Gilmore Girls to be a feminist utopia, but here are the top four.
- Redefined Family
Before shows like Modern Family and The Fosters were challenging our discussions about family, there was Lorelei Gilmore. A self-professed coffee addict who, after having a baby at 16, decides to create an independent, free-spirited life for herself and her daughter. When the show first aired some critics took issue with the way the show supposedly “glamorized” teen pregnancy. Yes, Lorelei and Rory live in a two story home, eat out frequently, and appear to live a relatively happy life. But throughout the series it is clear that the only reason why they are able to live this way is because of the way Lorelei scrimped and saved at the beginning — including living in a potting shed when she first left home. As she tells Rory’s college boyfriend, Logan, Rory wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth, “it was spork city all the way.” Lorelei’s abilities as a single mother are never questioned, and instead her strong, friend-like relationship with Rory only shows the functionality that can (and often does) exist in single parent households.
2. Embrace Your Inner Nerd
Rory’s most defining characteristics are her quick wit and never ending desire to be a world-renowned journalist. Throughout the series, whether she is navigating the hallowed halls of an elite prep school, taking the role as the Yale Daily News editor-in-chief, or joining the Barack Obama presidential campaign, she defines herself entirely by her intellect. Even more refreshing, she is never once criticized for her tenacity to be the best. Even the other female characters on the show who could be easily passed off as “ditzy” are shown as being intelligent. No bitches here, just hard working women getting things done.
3. Sex Postivity
It’s only now when I rewatch episodes that I notice how little is made of Lorelei’s multiple sexual partners throughout the series. That’s not to say that Lorelei practices free love, or encourages Rory to have sex. Instead sex is treated with a frankness and honesty which shakes off the notion of awkward birds and bees mutterings followed by shameful side glances. Even when Rory comes to Lorelei to let her know that she is considering having sex with her high school boyfriend (who Lorelei strongly dislikes), it is treated with frankness and no judgement. Whether an individual is choosing to wait until marriage, like Rory’s friend Lane, or having a no strings attached relationship, sex isn’t considered the defining characteristic of the person’s moral character.
4. Female Friendships
Despite all of Rory’s boyfriends, the relationship I find most intriguing on the show exists between Rory and her high school frememy, Paris. The relationship between the two over achievers isn’t easily defined. Instead, it is a relationship that continues to change and be redefined throughout the series, as the women come to realize how much they need the other person. Even in the hormone-filled halls of high school, their tension was never a result of crushes and boys. Instead their arguments come from their desire to be the best of their class. I’m not going to say that Paris is the most likable character on the show, but the friendship that the pair share will clearly stay with them for a very long time. As Rory tells Paris on their Yale college graduation day, “Paris, I haven’t been able to shake you off all these years. We’re gonna be friends for a very long time.”
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