Olivia Pope Strong Powerful and Dependent : When can Women Truly be Independent?
I’m not much of a television buff simply because I usually never have the time to devote to it, but a show that has caught my attention and interest (thanks to my lovely roommate Drae) is
This theme seems prevalent in mainstream television, but why is that? Why must the strong women that appears to have everything together, crumble so hard when around the main male character? I believe this show and shows like it undermine the idea of the strong working woman and instead make her strong and independent only when she’s not under the influence of the main man. It paints women as weak, and with fighting the stereotypes on the road to equality between men and women; a show that paints women as weak and dependent does nothing but reinforce the ideas and stereotypes that the media spews out. Dysfunctional relationships are shown everywhere you look, and even in the case of Scandal, Olivia Pope can’t truly live her life because she’s stuck on the most unattainable man in the country.
I will end this post by challenging you awesome readers to come up with ideas for shows that feature strong female figures having agency over their lives, then look on the television and compare your show to some of the many shows on there, do you see anything like your show on television? In order to start making change we need to first be able to acknowledge what needs to change; and these systems that present women as weak and disenfranchise them- need to change. Only then can we start making strong, independent television depictions of women the norm.
