“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 !
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