Despite the initial monologue, perhaps Good Girls, series produced by Jenna Bans (viewable on Netflix) is not exactly feminist. But still worth a mention.
The series tells of three busy Detroit mums grappling with an impromptu criminal career and the fatigue of being women in a patriarchal world. We will recognise ourselves in family detailsfor better and for worse: the struggle to deal with one's mother-in-law, the insidious ties that trap us, the toxic relationships with men who promise everything and give nothing. The difficulties of achieving real economic independence, relationships with other women, perhaps mothers who are as messed up as we are.
In the first season, a lot of space for gender stereotypes. Sadie is acheerful tomboy very close to her mother and free from the canons of traditional femininity. But showing a simply free girl is only the premise of creating a trans character. Instead of continuing to be a girl who loves dinner jackets, Sadie becomes Ben without the series digging into the issue, in contrast to the messages against stereotypes.
But Good Girls puts a lot more meat on the fire. It speaks of emancipation, of male-female relations and also of violence, in a non-prurient manner. It is the occasion for an engaging monologue by one of the three protagonists.
Even with some reservations about the narrative, the series is fresh and entertaining and portrays credible and diverse women, proposing female personalities portrayed for themselves and finally not in function of a man. Good Girls deserves an opportunity and paves the way for the authentic storytelling of women and their lives.
Alessia Ferranti
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