Movies and TV shows love to paint women as boy-crazed, irrational, emotional, shopaholics, or workaholics, that could use a life-changing makeover, or a solo trip to another country to discover who they really are and get over their ex-boyfriend, once and for all!
But really, women are a lot more complex than that. So complex, that the male movie creators of the world may never truly understand.
That breakups turn our lives upside down and cause us to make rash, life altering decisions.
Elle Woods decides to go to Harvard in hopes of impressing her ex boyfriend, and proving to him that she’s smarter than she looks so that he proposes to her.
Although we love the message the movie ultimately sends, this seems like a stretch.
Elizabeth in “Eat, Pray, Love” takes a solo trip around the world to find herself following her recent divorce.
You know, it is possible that a woman can break up with someone, be broken up with, or get divorced, and not impulsively go on a trip.
There are other ways we deal with these types of things, such as eating chocolate, drinking wine, and watching movies just like this one.
In “The Holiday” Iris deals with her ‘breakup’ by swapping out her cottage for a mansion in Los Angeles.
It doesn’t seem like this would be someone’s first choice after being broken up with.
It’s certainly one way to deal with it, but there are probably easier, more likely ways.
That women throw drinks in people’s faces, and slap people across the face a lot.
It’s a movie and TV show cliché that when a guy walks up to a girl at a bar and tries to hit on her inappropriately, she either slaps him or throws a drink in his face, like in How I Met Your Mother , or American Pie .
It’s also very common in movies for women to slap each other across the face, to instigate a “cat fight”, like in Monster In Law .
That women do crazy things to get back at their exes.
The movie John Tucker Must Die is about a group of girls who all got played by the same guy, so they team up, and go to extreme lengths to get revenge.
Something that would never happen in real life and if it did, I’d be concerned.
That single women are dying to meet “the one”.
Gigi from He’s Just Not That Into You is a really solid example of this. In the movie, it seems like her entire life’s purpose is to meet a guy that likes her back. Not only is that sad AF, but it doesn’t really seem like something that actually happens.
Just because a girl is single, doesn’t mean she’s on a mission to find Mr. Right. She’s probably just living her best life, and if prince charming comes along, then so be it.
That a woman’s only hobby is shopping.
It hasn’t yet occurred to movie creators that women have other, more substantial interests besides shopping.
Men like shopping just as much as women, but for some reason, we get the third degree in movies for enjoying shopping every now and then. Confessions Of A Shopaholic was an extreme example of this.
That women are obsessed with getting married.
When we were kids, the happy ending in every Disney princess movie was that she got to marry the prince, and this has been cemented in a lot of women’s minds.
But it’s 2019 now, and most women have bigger dreams than just getting married.
Unlike how we’re misrepresented in movies like 27 Dresses and Bride Wars .
That Latina women are combative, and generally spicier than all other women.
It is definitely possible for Latin women to be gentle, and quiet. There’s a lot more to Spanish women than being loud and having a thick accent.
Gloria from Modern Family is a great example of this overdone stereotype or Anita from West Side Story .
That all superhero women need to be sexy.
This is Hollywood’s way of telling us that powerful women need to be incredibly good-looking too, and that can be discouraging to the rest of us average-Joes.
Obviously, superheroes don’t actually exist. But the stereotype that all female superheroes need to come with an insane amount of sex appeal is ridiculous.
I would love to see a female superhero with a realistic body type for once.
Being sexy isn’t the only way to be powerful, ladies! Being smart, funny, and talented count for something too.
That women constantly need to be saved by men.
This one dates back to the beginning of time, basically. Sleeping Beauty , Snow White , Cinderella , the list goes on.
Vivian from Pretty Woman was living her life as a sex worker, until a man (who hires her BTW), swoops in and saves her.
If I waited for men to solve all my problems, I’d never get anything done.
In The Princess Bride , Wesley’s entire purpose is saving Buttercup.
I personally love this movie. But the entire movie is him going through hoops to get Buttercup out of danger.
It’s like she didn’t even try to help herself.
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That women are always dieting.
In Mean Girls , Regina George, a high school student , is obsessed with losing weight.
Girl’s do more than just fight over boys, wear pink, and diet.
That being curvy in any way puts us at a disadvantage in life, and makes us unattractive.
Guys, repeat after me: all body types are beautiful.
But Hollywood likes to make us think that only thin, gazelle-like women are worthy of being wanted, or successful.
Take Effy from Dreamgirls . They make her sing back-up because she’s plus-sized, and “getting fatter all the time”.
Yikes.
In “Pitch Perfect” they literally named this girl “Fat Amy.” Are you kidding me?
Being plus-sized shouldn’t become someone’s identity. It shouldn’t define somebody’s entire existence.
At least Amy’s character owns it, and is confident with herself.
That quirky women are here to help men find themselves.
This is the plot of way too many movies. The quirky, off-beat girl’s only purpose in the movie is to help the male protagonist grow as a person.
For once, it would be nice if the guy didn’t have to break a girl’s heart in order to trigger him to get his life together.
Take the movie Yes Man for example!
Zooey Deschanel is really great at playing this type of character, apparently.
In 500 Days Of Summer , she plays a manic, quirky, pixie-like girl, serving as a crutch in the character development of Tom.
That girls who wear glasses are automatically less desirable, awkward, or geeky.
In She’s All That , it’s pretty clear from the start that Laney is seriously good looking. With or without glasses, she’s fire.
But for some reason, this movie tries to play it off as though her beauty is hidden or something? Just because she wears glasses and enjoys painting, shouldn’t make her an outcast.
News flash: sometimes we actually just need to wear glasses in order to see?
Vision is kind of important, and who says a girl can’t look hot with glasses on?
The whole cliché that girls who wear glasses are wallflowers, secretly begging to be seen by the high school football captain is a joke and a half.
That a makeover is going to change a girl’s life.
Don’t get me wrong, makeovers are great , and every now and then, they might feel like they’re changing your life.
But getting a makeover and getting the attention of boys who might have not noticed us otherwise is played out and inaccurate.
That career women are cold and miserable.
Take Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada for instance.
I totally understand that her character is meant to be shrewd and cold, but this stereotype has been done a million times over in movies, and it’s simply not as common in real life.
Like Amanda Woods in “The Holiday”.
She says that she doesn’t cry, that she hasn’t been in love, and that she can’t hold down a relationship.
At the start of the movie, her boyfriend accuses her of overworking and not paying enough attention to him, causing him to cheat, resulting in their breakup.
Or Lauren in “Think Like A Man”.
Her whole shtick is that she’s too wealthy and powerful and busy with work for a man.
They also make her out to be shallow, unable to date someone who is professionally beneath her.
Women are not actually like this! We love who we love, and even those of us who are extra dedicated to our jobs, are still decent human beings.
