This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pepperdine chapter.
CBS’s Supergirl is still in its first season and already it’s smashing tropes and showing us what women in television should look like. Here’s just a few reasons to check it out.
An evenly balanced cast. Unlike so many places where a token women is thrown in so they can pretend they made an effort at diversity (looking at you, Avengers, the original Star Wars, Spongebob, etc.), Supergirl is split perfectly down the middle. Main character? Girl. Her best friend? Guy. Her boss? Girl. Her other friend? Guy. Her sister? Girl. Her secret government boss? Guy. You get the picture.
Kara Danvers isn’t you typical ‘Strong Woman.’ She’s a bit of a geek. She wears glasses and cardigans and can be shy at times, when she’s not flying around saving the city from evil. She’s a girl, not a trope or a political statement.
In fact, none of these women are typical. Among the three female leads alone there’s a top buisnesswoman, a secret agent, and a geeky shy secretary who doubles as a superhero. Also included are a scientist, The only type of woman you won’t find here is a manic pixie dream girl.
The girls are allowed to be girly. Just because they’re ‘strong women’ doesn’t mean they’re devoid of emotion. They cry. They breakdown. They have bad days and situations where they need to be saved, which is fine because the next day they’ll be the one doing the saving. They’re still human, and they’re wholly three-dimensional.
The show doesn’t shy away from the tough topics. In episode five Kara and her boss, Cat, have a heart to heart about the expectations of ‘having it all’ as a mother and as a working woman. A few episodes later Cat reminds Kara that a woman cannot show anger in the workplace, even if their male counterparts can.
Supergirl is a fantastic look into what makes a real superhero, and what it means to be a woman in today’s world. Check it out on CBS, they even have free episodes up on their website.