Being here at school makes it super hard for me to keep up with my favorite shows so I usually end up binge watching Netflix (like everyone else). A few of my favorite shows include Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and Orange is the New Black. All three of these shows feature strong women leads, and there are many different ways we can use them as inspiration in our own lives!
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Gossip Girl
If you haven’t watched it from beginning to end, you must! Blake Lively plays the troubled Serena van der Woodson, and Leighton Meester plays Queen B, Blair Waldorf. These two characters live complicated lives and although most of us aren’t privileged teens attending boarding school on the Upper East Side, there are still ways we can emulate their best characteristics
The one common characteristic I think is present in these two is confidence! No matter what the situation, whether they were on top of the social pyramid or at the bottom, both Blair and Serena maintained who they were and did not let anyone get to them.
Determination was another very common trait. More specifically through the seasons this applied to Blair. Whether it was conquering the social scene or attending Yale, B was determined to accomplish her goals. Even when she did not get into her dream school, she was forced to attend NYU where she made the best of it. From Blair we can definitely learn to strive for our best, and if we do not attain our ultimate ambition, it’s OK!
Very often, due to the menacing and elusive Gossip Girl, rumors and secrets were spread about these girls. Although at times things seemed like the end of the world, they still made it through. I think it’s important for all of us to remember that no matter bad things seem, there is always a way through!
Lastly, I can’t help but to admire the friendship Blair and Serena have. Even through the worst fights and even when the most hurtful secrets were revealed in the end their friendship prevailed. It just goes to show that even the most complicated friendships can make it through the roughest times.
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Pretty Little Liars
No matter what these four friends do, they just can’t stay out of trouble! At this point in the show, everything is so complicated that it can be hard to keep up sometimes, but there are definitely some positive characteristics present that we can take away from this series.
I think two main themes in this show are friendship and originality . At first, these girls thought that Alison brought them all together when in reality, Alison was a mean girl, pointing out their flaws and weaknesses to keep them in line. After Alison went missing, these girls were together on their own, and throughout the shows, through the most bazaar situations, Hannah, Aria, Spencer, and Emily always have each others back.
I’m sure we all have close friends like them, where you’ve been through everything together, and from this it’s important to take away that even in the worst situations a true friend will always be there.
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Orange is the New Black
This Netflix Original is one definitely worth watching! The first two seasons have been on Netflix for a while now, and the third is coming out this June!
Piper, the lead character, finds herself in an unusual situation. She gets sent to prison. In prison she crosses paths with a number of different types of people who ended up there for all different kinds of mistakes. Through this experience Piper is forced to make realizations about her life and learn who she really is.
I think what we can take away from Piper and her experiences is that everything happens for a reason, there is always something we can learn from a situation, and it’s amazing how everyone can end up in the same place.