The Mindy Project Feminist Movement
I am always a fan of light comedy. The late night shows, New Girl and Mindy Project, have always made my day. The Mindy Project is about a successful, hardworking, independent woman, Mindy, and her life both in the office and in the real world of New York City.
Throughout the show, Mindy always possesses an strong confident voice. When one of her co-workers or a random bystander would critique your outfit choice, she would immediately deny it stating that she is correct and amazing.
The charm of Mindy was her irritating persistence and comedic stubborn personality. She portrayed the importance of self-love, body-positive and unapologetic. It is one of the reasons so many viewers are committed to this show, because they relate to this ray of confidence.
This strong character development was questioned towards season 3, where Mindy begins settling down by having a baby and being engaged with her fellow co-worker. Throughout this time period, Mindy, as well as most women, struggle to how much time she puts to both her family and her career.
Throughout this internal struggle, Mindy confides in her fiancé, Danny. Danny explains that he believes it is important to have a consistent parent in a child’s life. So, Mindy decides that she is more needed at home.
The Mindy Project has an undertone, beneath the satirical comments and embarrassing scenarios, of daily obstacles middle aged women have to overcome. The decision of family vs. career, who’s responsibility is it to take care of the child? For how long of time? When is it okay to return back to your career? Will that be too much time off? Etc.
Through this scenario, this show has exemplified a relatable struggle. However, the way Mindy handles the conflict is what makes things more in question. Mindy listens to her fiancé, and, despite her personal aspirations, decides to obey by his rules.
The idea of feminism is for women to have the right to their own decisions. Throughout this show, Mindy speaks her concerns and gets overpowered by her fiancé. Although this kind of dominance is undercoated in the same comedically voice the show always has, there was some discomfort to the viewer.
There is a worry that this kind of message could be seen as a hegemonic ideology. The idea that women are suppose to stay home after childbirth and take care of their newborn. This concept should be “common sense” to any woman. However, as society develops this is not always the case.
As the show progressed, Mindy has left her fiancé based on indifferent views and needs in their lives. Slowly, the show is rebuilding that independent charm Mindy once had. She also has a new obstacle of tackling on her career as a single mother. However, those couple of episode of pure gender role stereotypes were painful to see. I wonder how this show will continue in the future.
