‘The Bold Type’ is a Timely Inspiration
If you are a 20-something woman, The Bold Type is the next show that you should watch. This show touches on just about every issue that a young woman in America could face today, as well as larger issues impacting society as a whole.
The show follows three friends working at Scarlet, a fictional fashion and lifestyle magazine inspired by Cosmo, in New York City. Jane (Katie Stevens) is a column writer, Sutton (Meghann Fahy) is a fashion assistant, and Kat (Aisha Dee) is the head of social media marketing. The editor of Scarlet is Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin), a notoriously powerful and talented woman, who is both a kind and intimidating presence to the three main characters.
Over the course of four seasons (so far), Jane, Sutton, and Kat undergo many personal struggles. Some issues are more external or interpersonal, like starting a new job with an intimidating boss, affording rent in a big city as a young person, and conflict within friendships and romantic relationships. Others are more internal, like exploring sexual identity, facing and interpreting privilege, coping with genetic medical issues, and struggling with racial identity.
In addition to these, the show addresses a wide variety of topics that have to do with societal structures, like racial profiling, norms and prejudices surrounding masculinity, lack of representation in media, trans rights and identity struggles, gun ownership, relationships with large age gaps, normalizing discussion about sex/masturbation/kinks, and more. Although there were brief moments where these issues were brought up in a heavier-handed way than I would have liked, the good far outweighs the bad.
The aspect of The Bold Type that shines the most for me is its ability to show powerful, realistic women working to better their own lives, and the lives of the women around them. Jacqueline exemplifies this. She is constantly pushing to shatter the glass ceiling, and to make Scarlet more progressive, since the Board of Directors consists entirely of older, white men. She is also married with children and is able to balance her career and her family, something that isn’t often depicted in shows where women are in positions of power. Jacqueline encourages and nurtures her employees, and they do the same for her, both personally and professionally. It is refreshing to see women being kind and vulnerable to each other, even when there are differences in age, expertise and life experience.
The three main characters are no different. They stand up for and empower women through journalism and social media at Scarlet, bringing to light topics such as abuse, beauty standards, and the female body and sexuality. However, we also see the way that they support each other and their other female relationships outside of work.
Although the characters in The Bold Type are confident and strong, they are also flawed and recognize their flaws. They make hard decisions and mistakes, but they never stop fighting for what they believe in, and to stay true to who they are. When they lose confidence or hit low points, they rely on their loved ones to help pick them back up. They communicate to solve their problems, which is a skill that I find doesn’t get enough emphasis in media (and in real life) when it comes to interpersonal relationships.
When I watch this show, I feel inspired. I feel like I can take on anyone or anything that stands in the way of my goals. As a 26-year-old woman, I need a show like this; one that promises that learning who I am along the way, but staying true to my deepest beliefs, is what being bold is all about.
Watch The Bold Type on Hulu or Freeform, and let me know what you think in the comments!
Originally published on our Wordpress website on July 7, 2020.
