I have found my soul mate and her name is Mindy Lahiri. Despite our age difference, conflicting schedules, and the fact that she is a fictional character on FOX’s The Mindy Project, we have managed to spend many lonely nights together, basking in the light of the television with a handful of popcorn in one hand and a remote in the other. However, she is not only the perfect companion, applauded for her wit and relatability throughout the blogosphere, but also a role model for women of all ages.
First off, I’d like to clarify that I do not use the term role model lightly. Often times in society, we invite celebrities and strangers to become integral parts of our lives when we are only aware of a single facet of the person that has been specifically designed for the media. We allow them to alter our style, our interests, and even our beliefs with little justifiability other than the mere fact that they are famous. This is the beauty of Mindy. She is incapable of deceit of her audience because we are aware of every aspect of her life and we are led to believe that she likes it that way. Her commentary, candid and clever, gives an air of authenticity to the character. It feels as if you are spending the night with your best friend rather than with the television. Mindy is honest, smart, and completely confident in who she is, making her not only the ideal best friend, but the perfect role model.
Honest
Honesty is a quality that is valued by both men and women alike, whether it is in a partner or a best friend, but Mindy takes honesty to the next level. She is, for lack of a better word, sassy. Now, over the years, sass has definitely gotten a bad rap, conjuring images of spoiled young girls with their hands on their hips and rude women waving their finger in the air, but true sass is simply a confident woman asserting herself and her opinions. Mindy is brave with her words and states them unflinchingly because she is unwilling to burden herself with the “could’ve, should’ve, would’ve” scenarios in her head that so often plague us late at night. Her passionate nature gives her the strength to put herself out there for the sake of love, friendship, and her beliefs and, in addition, she practices her right to defend and protect herself in all situations. As a young woman that constantly sensors herself for the sake of others, I admire this quality and hope to exhibit it in the future. She beyond doubt advocates the saying: “Say what you mean, and mean what you say”, and I applaud her for that because it takes an extreme amount of courage to truly and completely express yourself, your ideas, and most of all your feelings. In doing so, she exposes herself entirely, because in honesty there is vulnerability.
Smart
Because of her relatability, it is easy to forget that beneath the plentiful pop culture references and endless guy drama, Mindy is also a brilliant doctor. This is extremely refreshing because unlike many other television shows with a female lead, The Mindy Project often focuses on the dealings of her practice and gives a glimpse into the professional and academic side of Mindy, aka Dr. Lahiri, rather than solely her comedic aspects (though her work scenes will never leave you wanting for laughter). Though at times her colleagues doubt her ability to hold her own in the workplace, she asserts her dominance as a professional and capable woman, reminding them that though she is dramatic and possibly too aware of the lives of the Kardashians, she also is an extremely competent and educated doctor and deserves to be treated as such. I personally love to see this side of Mindy because it is extremely important for women to remember that we are multi-faceted beings and we do not have to conform to a certain sect or label of society. Mindy is a prime example of the fact that we can be both beautiful and brilliant and our interests do not have to flow or make sense. She illustrates what being a true woman really is.
Confident
Now a true woman wouldn’t be complete without an insane amount of confidence, and Mindy is equipped with nothing less. Though she could possibly be referred to as narcissistic at times, I believe that she simply says aloud what every woman should be thinking about herself. It is not in spite of her weight, height, or age that she loves herself, it is because of these things that she has the confidence that most women only dream of. Sometimes you just have those days where you purposely look up images of beautiful models just to damage your self-esteem, eat your feelings, and then start the process all over again, but life shouldn’t be that way. Mindy sees all the valuable qualities in herself and not only takes pride in them, but promulgates them. She owns her curves, her brains, and her quirky personality and makes you (and all the men in her life) love every minute of it, just as I have.
Television needs more characters like Mindy Lahiri who remind us what it is to be a real woman and how to be proud of it. She illustrates the fact that every woman can be honest, smart, and confident and that we can actively pursue these qualities in our daily lives. She is a role model for all women because a true role model encourages you to be the very best version of yourself and she accomplishes just that.
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