*spoiler warning*
As I was binge watching Netflix the other night, the new Netflix original, Girlboss, caught my attention for all the wrong reasons. What I first thought to be a witty comedy about female economic empowerment, took a wrong turn with the exacerbation of offensive stereotypes.
Girlboss is a Netflix original about a wild young woman who happens to have a knack for thrift shopping and snagging good deals on vintage clothing. In order to get herself though a turbulent financial time in her life, she ends up starting her own online business selling vintage finds. Eventually , her company profile ends up being kicked off their original platform for infringement on terms and agreements, so she’s left scrambling for an alternative. After weeks of trying to teach herself to code, she gives up and agrees to bring in freelance web developer.
Up until this point, there was nothing particularly problematic about the show (besides horrible character development and poor writing). But when the web developer arrived was introduced, she’s portrayed as a emotionless, humorless, socially awkward, and condescending. The main character consistently comments on her lack of style and chastises her for wearing basic sweatshirts. The character often misses social queues and is made to seem even creepy at times.
I know many women who are involved in web development and coding. They are the most charismatic, fun, and entertaining people I’ve ever met. I even have the honor to call a few of them my sorority sisters. By enforcing stereotypes about women in tech, it only makes the lives of real women harder. When people think of women who code, they shouldn’t automatically think of awkward and anti-social people. It was in poor taste to write this specific character as they did. Not only is it offensive and degrading to perpetuate negative stereotypes, it’s boring, lazy, and cliché.
With the rise startup culture among millennials, the creators of the show should have done a better job writing for their target audience. More and more women are going into technical careers that require knowledge of CSS, Python, HTML, JavaScript, or any other coding language. Coding isn’t necessarily just for social recluses who hide from daylight. Plenty of women in their 20s’ or early 30s’ have a side hustle making money through freelancing in the tech industry.
My hope for the future of the entertainment industry is that they’ll stop marginalizing women who dare to stand up and break gender norms. There is a huge social media revolution happening currently that works to redefine how people think of women in the computer science and tech industry. The hashtags on Instagram; #girlswhocode, #womenwhocode and #girlboss are spreading like wildfire. By posting insightful photos of what the lives of women in tech really look like under these tags, people are working to push for inclusivity and social progress. The last thing society needs is careless TV show writers who undermine all this progress.