Adorkable. Never has such an innocent-sounding word sparked so much debate and contention. But maybe the debate really surrounds the word’s poster child, the adorable/dork herself, Ms. Zooey Deschanel. While the point has been made long ago that nothing about Zooey exactly screams “dork” in the way of endless hours in the library and marathon games of World of Warcraft, we have seemed to come to the conclusion about what she represents: a quirky, innocent, beautiful woman is isn’t afraid to act a little silly if the moment strikes her. This persona has served Zooey well, making her the go-to Manic Pixie DreamGirl in her film career and now the star of popular freshman series “New Girl” where she sings songs about bullying with a ukelele, wears bows in her hair and imitates a bunny more than once.
Such a performance would hardly seem controversial, but backlash against Deschanel and her “adorkability” has been building ever since “New Girl” premiered, with some calling her anti-feminist. In a scathingly glib article about role models for young women, Entertainment Weekly columnist Libby Gelman-Waxner claims that Zooey isn’t suitable because she represents a version of women as girlish, pure, innocent and child-like. She also suggests that her daughter latch onto a “true heroine” like Lisbeth Salander from the “Girl With Dragon Tattoo” series who maintains the quality of “taking satisfying revenge against male criminals.”
Other attacks on the show and Zooey’s wide-eyed, cutesy character Jess lead to the producer’s direct response to naysayers on the air. Not long after adorkable-backlash started, the character of Julia (Lizzy Caplan) was introduced to the show: a tough, career-driven female with little patience for feminine graces like pretty dresses, getting married, starting a family, girl talk, and eating baked goods. While Julia was represented positively in the show, she left after a four-episode arc that included a showdown with Jess about all the problems addressed by the show’s fans.
“I’m sorry I don’t talk like Murphy Brown, and I hate your pantsuit. I wish it had ribbons on it or something to make it just slightly cuter. And that doesn’t mean I’m not smart and tough and strong.”– Jess, Episode 11 “Jess and Julia”
Since then, show runner Liz Meriwether (who has stated more than once that she has based Jess’ character on herself as much as Zooey), has been addressing these issues and digging deeper into Jess and her roommates Winston, Nick and Schmidt. There has been a definite change in tone from the weepy, more song-inclined Jess in Episode 1 to the Jess who helped her friend through a cancer scare in Episode 15. Meriwether claims any changes in the show’s tone have nothing to do with fan response, but just with the growth of the character and the show. However, she did comment about the negative attention in an Entertainment Weekly spread, “It was a little weird for me, as a feminist who’s actively trying to create interesting roles for women, to hear that attack, that Jess is like a little girl.”
While I would never suggest that young girls shouldn’t be encouraged to act appropriately for their age, I must disagree with the attacks against Zooey, Gelman-Waxner’s especially. There is nothing wrong with femininity. Women have made landmark movements in professional fields within just the last 50 years (I’ve written about their place in the entertainment industry here), which sometimes gives the impression, even to girls, that acting feminine is a weak impulse that they must stop out in order to succeed in the world and remain equal to men. I commend strong, tough women like Lisbeth Salander. But not every girl wants to be bad-ass. Some girls want to wear pretty dresses, bake cupcakes and hug kittens – and that isn’t weak or wrong or an insult to feminism. There’s no reason a girl who wears a pretty pink bow in her hair and a smile on her face can’t be just as smart and determined as a girl like Julia or Lisbeth.
Julia is successful, but she’s also sarcastic, emotionally distant, and an overstressed workaholic. Lisbeth Salander is tough and smart but she’s also violent, depressive, emotionally distant, and self-destructive. If you ask me, it’s anti-feminist to believe that’s our only appropriate version of a strong, successful woman. I don’t know why our society has such a hard time believing a person with a positive attitude and a genuine warmth for others is an airhead or insincere or offensive.
Another thing Gelman-Waxner brought up when discussing Zooey’s unsuitability for being a role model is that she posts cute videos on her website, HelloGiggles.. I’m sorry, did you mean HelloGiggles.com? The multi-media website she’s founder and CEO of that regularly caters to young women with articles about support for battered women, commendations of female writers and actresses, and awareness on human rights issues? The HelloGiggles girls may have impeccable nails, but they also have a good head on their shoulders. So let Zooey wear her bows, and bat her enormous eyelashes and sing educational songs on her ukelele. If you let it, it might just brighten your day.