The show Euphoria included impressively feminist themes through the characters in the series. These characters showcase an overweight girl, trans girls, lesbians, people of color, etc. It displays the types of people that usually need feminism the most in their life. Throughout the show, the struggles the characters undergo exhibit the current view of the society towards feminist themes without a clear monologue explaining what is wrong or right. We can draw are conclusion with what we see in the show because it is an actual story.

One of the leading character, Jules, is transgender. Her mother enrolled Jules in a psychiatric center for boys, she had to take medications, and identify as a boy. Until, her father took Jules out of the center, and she was finally able to be herself. We can see that there is this unwillingness to accept Jules’ gender identity which is often the case for many trans children. She was forbidden to wear skirts and dresses because her mother and the society, in general, consider it feminine traits. Therefore, a “boy” (Jules) could not associate himself with feminine features instead he had to represent “masculine” attributes. It demonstrates how we separate, and identify insignificant things to specific genders, and if we do not follow these gender norms we are considered to be odd or weird, and even put in a psychiatric institute.

Now, that she can embrace her real gender she is very confident and passionate about fashion. We can see in the show a trans girl living the life she wants. In the series, she is “fetishized” by the men that she has sexual intercourse with which results to change her behaviors. These sexual activities portray patriarchal ideas such as women being the sexual object for men’s sexual needs, and men’s inability to control their sex drive. It demonstrates that women are in dominance, and obedience space. In this show, sexual intercourse occurs between various characters, and they all promote sexist views. For example, Maddy (a character) is learning what to do to please her partner during sexual activity on pornographic websites which often portrays sexist ideas. In this platform, women are objectified and women put their partners’(man) sexual needs above their own. There is this sexual inequality between genders that occurs during these acts. It demonstrates this pressure for women and men to fit the sexual norms associated with their gender. The male sexual ideal is to be aggressive during sexual intercourse, and the female sexual ideal is to consent to participate in any sexual acts that their partner(men) wants. For instance, one of the male characters, Mckey, choked his girlfriend during sex because he saw this act on a sexually explicit video.

Moreover, Jules has a romantic relationship with a female character name Rue. They both stand up and protect each other. For example, Rue stands up to the man that was blackmailing Jules. Their relationship display women’s unity, and feminist values. Rue respect Jules’ gender identity, and defines Jules for who she is and not her gender. They both believe that gender equality is important in society by acting against the sexist act on the show.

To conclude, there are many different feminist themes in this movie. These themes are not directly mentioned in the movie but are open to interpretation. Characters’ social life displayed gender norms and sexist ideas. We can found these concepts during the characters’ sexual learning process, and sexual intercourse. Jules’ and Rue’s relationship exhibit feminist values like respect, and gender equality.

Hidden Figures is a movie that mainly focuses on three mathematicians who work for NASA by the names of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. Katherine Johnson is a single mom who went on to calculate flight trajectories for Project Mercury and other missions. Dorothy Vaughan goes on to become an engineer at NASA and Mary Jackson went on to become a permanent supervisor to the Programming Department at NASA. 

            To begin, women had just started entering the workforce in the 1960s due to World War 2. As it is known, certain jobs still discriminate and do not offer positions based on appearances. Hence, these women even obtaining such highly valuable positions during those times is an applaudable matter. Not only were they questioned because they were women, but their skin color was an additional factor. For example, at the very beginning of the movie, when the trio’s car broke down, a white officer came and questioned them. However, he was taken back once they told him where they worked. His response was basically that he did not expect NASA to hire people like “them”. 

            Moreover, Mary Jackson had a mathematics and physical science degree to become an engineer, however, she was told that she would never become a NASA engineer due to the fact that she was missing a few certification courses. The courses were only offered at an all-white High School and obviously she could not attend due to her skin color. Thus, she decides to file a petition to the court in order to receive permission to attend these classes and she goes to become the first African American NASA engineer.

            To continue, Dorothy is the manager and de-facto supervisor of a group of thirty black women, however, she does not have to get a formal promotion as a supervisor. She gets kicked out of a public library because she was found in a whites-only section. She ends up stealing a book and teaches herself about programming and starts training her co-workers as well. NASA learns about her new skill and promotes her to supervise the Programming Department. 

            Following, despite the important valuable positions these women had in their respective workplaces, they were segregated from the rest of their co-workers. Their unit was segregated by race and sex. For example, Katherine had to walk half-mile to use the colored people’s bathroom. Also, she was not allowed to attend meetings because of her gender. However, Harrison destroys the bathroom sign and allows her to attend the meetings. Furthermore, she is given a security pass during the day of the launch because she figured out the calculations for the capsule’s landing coordinates. Thus, she is the reason behind the successful launch.  

            To conclude, Katherine Johnson is the perfect example of a woman that is able to be successful at her workplace despite being a single mom. She never compromised her work for her kids or vice versa. She was able to manage both gracefully and excelled in both parts of her life. She set an example for her kids as a hardworking ambitious woman who did not need a man to provide for her. This can be relatable to many women in our society nowadays who may struggle with the dilemma of balancing work and family.  

 Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom is a woman born on March 1st, 1983 and is currently 37 years old. Born in a poor family with no goal in sight except working in the fields her parents owned, she was blessed with the opportunity to go to school as it is an opportunity given to not many in India. Developing for sports and viewing the success of many athletes pushed her into starting boxing.

         A movie was created in the honor of Mary Kom by the same name and featured her life in 122 minutes in the shoes of Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The film begins with a very young girl that finds a glove and becomes very interested in the sport. Her father, being an ex-boxer worries about her daughter getting hurt and hurting her face which could potentially result in a rejection for marriage. People that live in poor areas such as the Mangte family believe that women are only raised to be given in marriage one day when they grow old enough, but Mary showed her dad that he was wrong when she won the Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championship.

         After many victories in her matches, Kom falls in love with a boy and wishes to start a family with her husband. The couple decides to have children despite the constant denial of her coach who sees a lot of potential in the boxer and believes that her career would be over if she chooses to have those children and take care of them as a mother.

         Chungneijang after a few years, people begin to not recognize, and this is the push that motivates her to come back to her boxing career. She approaches her coach that abandoned her because she decided to have children and proved that a married woman could still pursue an athletic career even after giving birth. She trained long and hard to become fit and learned moves all over again. Taking care of the children became a responsibility for her husband and he gladly accepted to take them and let his wife pursue a boxing career leaving behind those that believe men are supposed to work and not take care of the children and that women should be the ones doing those tasks.

          Going against her father’s wishes to pursue a career while being born in India is an action that takes a lot of guts to make. She was able to successfully make a career and prove that being born to be wedded one day is not the reason women are born. Furthermore, giving birth and then trusting her husband to take care of the children showed the world that marriage does not mean the end of a sports career and that women do not always have to be the ones to take care of children and food.

Peaky Blinders is a TV series that takes places in an industrial Birmingham, England after the end of WW1. The story is about the ascension of a gang called the Peaky Blinders led by Thomas Shelby and his family. The gang is known to cut their enemies’ eyes with razors blades hidden in the peak of the caps, thus the name of Peaky Blinders. Going from practicing basic racketing and illegal sports gambling in the Small Heath district in Birmingham to running the gang as multi-millionaire company with business partners such as Al Capone, we assist to the clever ways Tommy tries to quench his ever growing ambition thirst no matter what it takes.

With the clothes, cars, types of guns, and the many factories darkening the sky with their smoke, the show makes a good job at making us feel the Great War aftermath; not only with the visuals, but also with the particular socio-political context of that time. Indeed, the setting in which the Blinders live evolves season after season with the occurrence of new events/periods influence the game such as the The Prohibition or the Great Crash of 1929, and the apparition of new actors as time passes such as the Communists, the Unionists, the Italian mafia, the Irish Republican Army, the Russians Royalists, Nazis and Fascists towards the last season, as well as the Feminists.

The Great War aftermath was an important period for women. The contribution and sacrifices of women were really appreciated during the war. Before the war, the suffragettes were actively fighting for women’s rights, especially when it came for the right to vote, and their efforts were concretized in 1918, in the final year of the war with the Representation of the People Act of 1918 that allowed women over 30 who were either a member or married to a member of the Local Government Register. In November 1918, women over 21 were also finally allowed to be elected as member of Parliament under the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act of 1918. Then, in December 1919, the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 became law; it allowed women to enter professions such as in law and in civil services as well as allowing the universities to admit women to degrees [1][2].

Already at the beginning of the 1920s, women’s’ situation improved significantly compared to before the war. Yet, there was still a lot of work to do; married women were still not allowed to work, not all women were able to vote yet and there were still jobs women could not do, such as diplomacy. In the TV series, Jessie Eden was portrayed as one of the women who was leading the fight for women’s emancipation, and better treatment of the working people in Birmingham. This character is inspired by the real Jessie Eden that lived in Birmingham during the same time. She was affiliated with the communist party and she lead the women in her section during the General Strike of 1926[3]. In the series, her confidence and her power is shown whenever she confronts Tommy without being the most powerful individual of the city. She fights for what she believes in and nobody is going to stop her. Even the women of the Shelby family, strong women too, are in some way fascinated by her confidence and her absence of fear in front of adversity.

What makes the show series great is complexity of each character in the series. They all have their distinctive personality and they all face their own challenges. The women in Peaky Blinders are all portrayed as strong figures.

One of them is Grace Burgess. She appeared in the first season of the show as a simple Irish women who showed up at The Garrison Pub, a bar that is often frequented by the Peaky Blinders, to get the job of a barmaid. She was turned down at first but her singing talents won the landlord over who gave her the job. At their first encounter, Tommy and she were already intrigued by each other. It was indeed hard to understand why such a well-behaved, educated women would want to come to Birmingham to work in such a pub. Well, it turns out that she was actually working for the Birmingham police as an undercover agent and her job was to investigate the Shelby family. In the end, she managed to gain Tommy’s full trust, which is hard to get, and he even offered her a job to keep the records of the Shelby Company Limited. Even the mastermind of the Shelby empire did not see through her, Tommy actually developed feelings for her. She discovered incriminating information on the actions of the company, that she gave to the inspector on the case, Inspector Campbell. Yet, as Tommy fell in love with her, she also fell in love with him; she actually managed to protect the Shelby family. Another example of someone, that fights for what, or who, they believe in.

An another woman that has an impact in the show is Ada Thorne (born Shelby). She is the forth and the only female of the Shelby siblings. At the beginning of the series, she is in a secret relationship with Freddie Thorne, an old friend of Tommy and also a Communist agitator. As Freddie is chased by the police from Birmingham because of his actions, and Ada is found pregnant with Freddie’s child. Her Aunt Polly (we will come to her), was about the bring her to Cardiff to get an abortion, yet Freddie proposes to her, and they get married. Tommy was against this relationship, as he was uncertain for Ada safety; he even threatened Freddie, yet their romantic relationship did not end. Like the other women described, she is not afraid to do what she believes is correct and just. She is a strong women and she is able to stand for herself. One her iconic scene is when the Peaky Blinders were about to fight a rival gang, the Birmingham Boys, which would have resulted in a bloodshed, and she just walk with her baby in the No Man’s Land; she managed to convince all the men not to kill each other as she said that she and her baby would stay in the middle; she made them think of the people that are waiting for them to come home. Bold move we can say, but it actually worked. Another iconic scene is when she invites Jessie Eden to have a drink, yet the bars did not allow women at the time. It didn’t matter, she went to the bar with Jessie and they both drank their whisky and pint of beer respectively as they discussed important matters.

And the woman with the most influence in the show is Polly Gray (Aunt Polly). She is the matriarch of the Shelby family, and as she says it, she is the “heart of the family”. She is the one who took care of her nephews (Tommy’s siblings) after their mother died and their father left them. When the boys went to France to fight in the war, she is the one that took care of the Blinders. When the boys came back and took control, she still held an important place in the company as she is the only one in which Tommy confides in. It is evident that he needs her help and advice to be able to run the company and the Peaky Blinders. At the same time, she is also the treasurer of the company. She is also present on Ada’s life as she helps her with her baby, and gives her life advices. Also, Polly is the one that managed to reconcile Tommy and Ada as she married Freddie. She is a smart, strong independent women; she does not hesitate to do what she thinks is best for her family and herself. Throughout the show she goes through challenges and difficult times, especially when it comes to her son Michael, which proves that she puts her family before her. She is the proof that a woman can also be a leader, especially for her time.

There are a lot more strong feminine figures in the show that I did not name in this article like Lizzie Stark, who deserves a honorable mention; I’ll let you discover her and how important she is, on your own. The complexity of the characters is what makes to show so good and the strong presence of women is not only a plus, but also an important aspect of the TV show. I hope I did a good job in introducing this series to you, and I hope you will enjoy it.

Written by Dan Pasconi

There were a lot of movies that could have been chosen, but I decided to choose one that is a bit different from the regular movies or documentaries that focus on one big issue. The 5th wave talks about a teenager girl, Cassie, who is trying her best to get to her little brother, Saam in the middle of an end of the world situation. I chose this film because among all of those great movies, in a way, I can relate to this movie, since the main character is a typical teenager like the rest of us.

The 5th wave is another film that talks about the end of the world but in a different way. With no messages or warnings, a mysterious object appears in the atmosphere and starts moving around the planet. No one knew what was on it or who they were so they called them “the others”. They start hitting the earth with waves. An electromagnetic pulse that killed all the power on the planet, an earthquake, a deadly flu where Cassie’s mom (a nurse) died helping other people. Short time later, the dad also dies. As the kids were supposed to go somewhere safe, they all went on a bus. Cassie went down to get something, however the bus started moving and she couldn’t catch it. We, afterwards, see how Cassie tries her absolute best to get to her brother. Knowing that the other’s next strike was to kill all the rest of the humans.

What attracted me in this movie is Cassie’s strength and perseverance. Despite everything that is happening, her number one priority is to get to where her brother is, alone, with no help nor knowledge on how to survive. She breaks many stereotypes about being a man is the stronger gender and is able to handle more dangerous things. She teaches herself how to shoot and how to survive. She never gave up and whenever she feels unmotivated she remembers her brother and why is she doing all that, which gives her power. Throughout her journey, she had very high hopes that she will be reunited with her brother.

We can also see how independent she is. After getting shot in the leg, she didn’t want the help of the guy that helped her recover, Evan and wanted to continue the walk on her own. However when he refused to let her go alone, she asked him to show her some tips and tricks to fight and defend herself. The way she wants to depend on herself and keep herself safe with no help really shows us how strong and courageous she is. And how women or girls don’t need a male character to take care of them or look over them as an easy and weak person. The way she changed, from a typical teenager to someone who is willing to fight whoever to keep on with her goal, is amazing. Throughout the whole movie she was focusing on only accomplishing her goal and she never doubted herself. 

Finally, I see that this movie has a lot of aspects that represents every teenage girl, even if we don’t see it from the outside, under the similar circumstances we will show a lot of courage and strength. It shows that we don’t need anyone else to complete our goals and by ourselves we can do so much more than we could ever imagine.

“Mustang” (2015) is a Turkish movie that follows the life of 5 orphaned sisters growing up in a very traditional family and society. This movie is directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, a female director and it is told through the perspective of Lale, one of the 5 orphaned sisters. This film shows the many cultural restrictions put on women in a conservative society. However, the 5 sisters do not agree with any of these restrictions. Therefore, these five sisters go against social expectations and prove to be strong and brave individuals.

Indeed, many expectations are put on these women as they are expected to become good wives. These women are being forced into conservative housewife roles by their grandmother and uncle. Indeed, these sisters are continuously thought by their grandmother how to cook, take care of their husbands, stay quiet, and not to take too much space in a room. These women are expected to go along with what the conservative society expects from them, such as to wear clothes that cover their entire bodies, to not have relationships with boys until they are set up in an arranged marriage, etc. However, the five sisters do not agree with these social expectations of women. As a result, these sisters go against them forming their own identities.

After a neighbor spots the five sisters playing with boys innocently on the beach, they get punished by their caretakers. Indeed, their grandmother punishes them by hitting them and their uncle punishes them by screaming, insulting, pulling one of the sister’s hair, and forbidding them from leaving the house even for school. This shows that the conservative society unjustly expects certain things from girls and that girls do not have the same privileges as boys. However, these girls form a strong bond with each other as they support one another. These five sisters do not follow the restrictions that are set on them. For instance, they sneak out of their house to attend a soccer match even if they were forbidden to attend this sport. This demonstrates that these girls are strong when they work together. After the girls were forbidden to stay at home, their caretakers started to set them in arranged-marriages even if the girls were unwilling. In the case of Sonay, she got to marry her boyfriend. Indeed, before the marriage, she snuck out of the house several times to go see her boyfriend at night when she was not allowed to go out. After she got set up with a boy that was not her boyfriend, she stood up to her grandmother saying that she will resist and scream if she did not get set up with her boyfriend. This demonstrates Sonay’s strength and her bravery as she stood up for herself and her love.

Unfortunately, it was not everybody that got the marriage they wanted. Indeed, Tugba who did not have a boyfriend was obliged to marry a boy that she did not want to marry. She had just met him when she was introduced to him. In addition, after her marriage, she was expected to have sexual intercourse with her new husband. However, she did not bleed after the sexual activity, which was a big problem for the two families as they automatically thought that Tugba was a “slut” because they thought that she had already lost her virginity. Tugba was unfazed by this, which shows her strength and bravery as a woman. Once the families brought her to the doctor, she explicitly said that she was not a virgin, however, after the doctor’s check-up, he revealed the news that Tugba’s hymen had not yet broken. This shows the double-standard for men and women in conservative societies as women are automatically perceived as “sluts” if they lose their virginity, however, men are not perceived this way. Indeed, Ece, one of the five sisters, did not care about this expectation of women having to be pure at marriage. When she saw a male that she found attractive and him finding her attractive, they had sexual intercourse in her uncle’s car. This shows that Ece is a strong woman that does what she wants to do going against the social expectations of women in her society.

Lale also breaks rules. In fact, she sneaks out of the house several times to learn how to drive. This demonstrates that women can do the same things as men and that no gender is above the other. Indeed, she successfully learns how to drive, which allows her at the end of the movie to drive away with Nur to the city as Nur does want to be married to somebody that she does not love. Indeed, this shows strength and bravery from both Lale and Nur as they go against their society’s expectations of them. This leads them to freedom and gives them the chance to start making all their own decisions in life, which demonstrates women’s strength and bravery. 

In conclusion, these five sisters go against social expectations proving to be strong and brave individuals. Still to this day, women continue to be perceived unequally compared to men in some societies, which is why we have to continue to denounce these injustices and fight for equal rights for men and women all around the world.

I chose the film “Joker”, that came out last year to write my final blog on. I have been told before watching it, that this movie was provocative. “Provocative” was a strange word, I remember thinking about how it could be provocative, as I couldn’t imagine in what way, or what aspect in this movie could cause strong reactions from the viewers. Especially after seeing the movie “The Plateform”, I thought I had seen what’s shocking and disturbing. While “The Plateform” didn’t disturbe me as much as I thought it would be (maybe it was too gory?), “Joker” really did a good job in making me feel uncomfortable while watching it. The two movies both has themes of murder, mental illness, existentialism and human rights, but “Joker” deals with the much current social problem of the male identity, and link it to issues such as the difference between the rich and poor, expectation of other people and the worth of one’s dream in this society.

In the society of today, prople often think that men gets more than women. More power, more status and more fame. It is true to a certain extent, but “Joker” shows us that there is also a difference between men and that not all of them are successful. The main character, Arthur Fleck, is one of those people that most of us would probably not see or pay attention to even if we are aware of his presence. He is different from the rest of the society; it is shown in the movie that he seems to have multiple mental disorders along with “emotional incontience”, an existing condition that makes him burst out of uncontrollable laughter even if he doesn’t want to. Arthur’s condition seems like a good joke from god, among all the problem he already has in life. He is from the lower class, and struggles to makes the ends meet while taking care of his sick mother, while relying on seven different medications to make his pain go away. Arthur does recieve help from the government: there is a social worker whom he can consult and talk to. But as the government cuts away founds in sectors they consider as “less essential”, Arthur soon doesn’t even have access to this service anymore. He is then left all alone, with no financial help or any other aid from the government, while Thomas Wayne, the politician running for the mayor position, promessed to help citizens in poverty and to make their life better. This is a good example to demonstrate that the rich only gets richer and the poor only gets poorer since the upper class simply doesn’t care about them. This movie also illustrate that men in the upper class often hold all the power and prestige, and men like Arthur in the lower class can only live in poverty, ignored and forgotten. For example, the three man Arthur killed were depicted as terrible people, and yet their death were described as tragic loss (since they are from the upper class and work in a prestigious company) and Arthur was represented as being a merciless murderer by the authority. It shows that not all men have hold of power and that men are still separated by social classes and are labelled according to their class.

In this movie, it is shown that men with mental illness are treated badly. Just like Arthur wrote in his joke book: “the worst part about having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t”. Indeed, the main character was treated differetly and unfairly because of his mental issues. People don’t understand that his laughter was not controlled and make fun of him. It is shown that men that don’t fit in the typical image of masculinity are seen as failures and are mistreated: Arthur faces inequality every day such as being looked down upon, not trusted in the work environment and even beaten by strangers, because he is not strong, he is different, not rich and that he does not have a successful job. People expect him to be masculine, manly and all the traditional values because he is a man. It’s as if the main character’s life is worth less than other people because he is different, and he knows it. In his joke book, he also wrote: “I hope my death makes more cents than my life”. It is shown that Arthur knows that his life has little worth or values. The main character’s long life dream was to become a stand-up comedian and works hard towards his goal. But his ambition is discarded and made fun of, by others because people think that being a comedian is a “low level” job. The society make it clear that his dream is worth as much as his life, which is almost nothing. This movie shows that people still have high expectation towards men and expect them to occupy “successful” professions such as in politics or in economics. But it is not possible for every man to fit in the narrow box of traditional masculinity and Arthur is a perfect example of a man that is on the other side of the spectrum of what a man is, facing daily rejection by the society he lives in.

“Joker” also illustrates the danger that a man can become if he is pushed too far. After living all his life in poverty and as the bottom of the social structure, he recieves a gun, a destructive power that is now in his possession. Arthur then shoots the three men that are the perfect representation of why his life is so miserable. The main character finally felt like existing and being noticed for the first time in his whole life, after the incident appeared on the news and attracted all the attention of the city. Arthur would not have to feel invisible and would certainly not kill the three men under the influence of anger, if he has received more help sooner and if he was not oppressed by everyone for so long. The main character also stabs one of his coworker to death, as revenge for being responsible for his whole situation, and even shot the tv host when he was live on the Murray Franklin show. He started his plan of revenge killing, letting his anger (or detachment) take over the best of himself, because he finally felt free from any restrictions that prevents him from avenging himself and his unfair life. I think Arthur did all those killings at the end because he simply gave up on himself and didn’t care about the consequences, after being hurt so much by other people. He became a monster after he was pushed too far by the cruelty of the society. It teaches us a valuable lesson that men should all be treated equally and fairly regardless of their social status, because injustice creates anger and it is often the motive for the powerless to chose to do harm, when they are suddenly in the position of power. This movie not only represents the oppression of men, but also the repression of all the people of lower class. At the end of the movie, Arthur was seen as a symbol of resistance by the citizens because he killed men of the upper class. People of Gotham had enough of the rich having all the power over them and controling their life. Their repressed anger finally escalates and they end up starting a revolution and killing Thomas Wayne. This is an important lesson that everyone should be treated with empathy and respect, because anyone can start a riot or become monsters if they are percecuted for too long.

Finally, I wouldn’t say that I liked “Joker”, but it is certainly a movie worth watching because it brings up many issues the current society still has, such as the difference between the rich and the poor, mental health problem, the importance of empathy and one’s identity. It is certainly a movie that makes us reflect on how we treat people with mental disorders and under what circumstances a villain is created.

“Jane the Virgin” is a romantic comedy tv show inspired by a Venezuelan telenovela that follows the crazy life of Jane Villanueva, a young virgin woman who becomes pregnant due to a medical error. She was raised with a teenage mother and her grandmother that she made a promise that she will stay a virgin until … her marriage. But at 23, she finds herself accidentally inseminated artificially! The donor is Rafael Solano, a survivor of seminoma and also the boss of Jane and one among her former flirtations. Her state also upsets her plans together with her boyfriend Michael, since they were planning their life.

The reason why I had chosen this show to write about is that in my opinion, it is a great example of a show that represents the many themes that we had learned in this class. One of the first themes seen in the shows is the fact that three females are the heads of their household which teaches females independence from men. Usually nowadays, sadly in our society, it is more the men that are seen as the individual that is supposed to carry on the responsibility of being the head of the household. This show is a great example of women as individuals that are financially stable in finding their happiness without having to have a male contribute to it. During the show, the main character, Jane, is represented as a very independent and strong woman that does not need a man to support her financially or emotionally. For example, Jane had big personal goals that she had worked very hard to achieve by working as a teacher and as a waitress at the Marbella at the same time, as well as an intern at her father’s studio and worked very hard towards her goals of becoming a writer. Therefore, we can see how Jane had achieved success in her goals without the assistance of a man. Another example of Jane’s independence was when she had decided that she wants full custody of her child while she was aware of the challenges of single motherhood since she had learned that it was not easy from her mother’s experience since her mother as well was a single mom but that has not stopped Jane from being an independent strong woman!

Another theme seen in the show is that women characters are the ones in control of their bodies and decision. For example, the lead character, Jane, was always in control of what she wants to do to regarding sexual activity with her boyfriend, such as, many times while she was in the bedroom with him passionately making out and even though it seemed like she was enjoying the intimacy with her boyfriend she was continuously thinking about “the flower” that was representing the promise she has made to herself and her grandmother, and as a symbol of her virginity. In short, Jane had remained in control of her decisions not to have sex by declining her boyfriend many times.

Another important theme represented in the show was the mutual sense of unity between the family members as Alba ( her grandmother), Jane, and Xiomara ( Jane’s mother) as well as other females characters. From the begging of the show till its end the support between the family members has always been present since they had always supported each other through school, finances, an unexpected pregnancy, situation with Jane’s father, etc. Another camaraderie found in the show was the friendship between Jane and her best friend Lina who is very important to Jane since she provides lots of emotional support during Jane’s hard times. Therefore her grandmother, mother, and best friend are all there for physical and emotional support which causes Jane to not need any help from any males characters and this is why it is so important for women to support one another.

Another theme found in the show was women making their own choices about reproduction. While Jane was dealing with this unexpected pregnancy, the people around her all had different opinions but Jane never let another opinion affect her own choice of reproduction. When Jane found out about her unexpected pregnancy, Raphael ( the donor ) and Michael ( the boyfriend), both were not really agreeing with the pregnancy but Jane did not let another man dictated her choices. Another scene that was very empowering too was when Xiomara ( Jane mothers) was telling her how she should know that she always has a choice because when she was pregnant with Jane, her mother ( Jane’s grandmother) did not agree with the pregnancy and wanted her to have an abortion since it was an unexpected pregnancy at a young age but Xiomara chose to give birth and keep Jane anyways. This show’s that her mother is trying to tell her that it is now her turn to consider all the available options: abortion or keeping or giving up custody and that it is up to a woman to make her own choice.

Another theme found in this show is that all the females characters are hardworking, very smart, powerful with professional and respectable careers. Besides Jane being a hard-working woman, Petra(Rafael’s ex-girlfriend) is another example of a hardworking woman since she had improved a lot in her career by ending up owning the Marbella hotel. Her confidence and determination are very inspiring, especially in a world where people were doubting her for being a woman. There’s also Nadine as an example of a successful career since she plays the role of a police detective which is usually seen more as a “man’s job” she is still working a very professional and respectable career. Another example of a great career was Luisa( Raphael sister) that worked as a gynecologist. Therefore, all these women had worked very hard to achieve the work that they did and I also like how this show even though it is based on a telenovela, they did not do female characters as they often do such as dramatic, a bit naïve, needy, etc. Therefore, I had learned so much from watching this show that portrays so many feminist ideas, Jane is truly inspirational !

The movie Frida (2004), inspired by the life of the famously know Frida Kahlo, demonstrates a strong feminist role that Frida took part in during her lifetime. The young women was a role model for feminism and going against social norm. As she was born in 1907 and died in 1954, she was considered one of the feminists at the time in how she expressed herself throughout her life.

Frida Kahlo was known for her paintings as she started after her accident. She was self-taught and was inspired to paint and make something of herself even after getting into an accident at the age of 18. This shows the strength of a young women not giving up on the possibilities of life even with a tragic accident. Painting was a way to express herself in a different way than the norm at the time and pulling through and not letting anything stop her. She demonstrates inspiration to many and myself that you can truly do anything you want in life no matter the circumstances as if there is a will there is a way.

She was also known to break the expectations of society when it came to her appearance. She was known to have a unibrow and unwaxed upper lip, as it was statement of going against the social beauty rules of a women at the time. She expressed herself in how she felt comfortable with herself and not by how she was expected to appear. She was a big believer in being one’s self and embracing it without shame of standing out. Which should be something everyone aspires to, as one should feel comfortable with whatever decisions one makes about themselves without the fear of expectations.

Lastly she was known to be bi sexual as she had lovers of both male and female. She was true to herself even at a time when most hid their true selves because of what society thought. Once again demonstrating the importance of being one’s self regardless of what people think as we are all equal. She was a true inspiration for women and anyone else who felt that they shouldn’t conform to the norm of society, especially in that era.

Frida Kahlo was an inspirational woman who was the definition of a feminist. She was true to herself in what she felt comfortable with and with what she believed in. She aspired in what she loved to do and did it regardless of the circumstances. This is why I personally find her inspirational as she shows how one should embrace one’s self no matter what people think, as long as you are happy.

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