To be honest, writing about feminism makes me a little uncomfortable. I guess I'm sensitive about sounding like a grumpy bra-burner or some other negative female stereotype. But, it is these kinds of stereotypes -perpetuated by popular culture-that intrigue and anger me in the first place. Despite the progress women have made in political and workplace equality, for some reason we can't think of many original roles for women in television and film, and instead perpetuate stereotypical character tropes. This kind of portrayal of female characters can subliminally impact the way its viewers think of real women, which is something that should worry anyone who cares about women's equality.

I want to focus on one new show in particular. For anyone who hasn't seen The Mindy Project, FOX's new sitcom, here's a quick recap. Mindy Kaling of The Office plays a successful OB/GYN who runs her own practice but struggles in her personal life. Mindy dreams of finding the perfect boyfriend and seeing her life pan out like one of her favorite romantic comedies, though she is unable to separate her work life from her personal drama. Most of the show is spent following Mindy's uncomfortable first dates, her hookups with male doctors and her bitterness about her ex.

Mindy is an unrealistic and exaggerated character. How could a successful and professional doctor make such a mess of her personal life? You would think Mindy's work would occupy most of her time and energy, but her thoughts are primarily concerned with her love life. Kudos to FOX for including a show in their fall lineup about a woman who has achieved success in a male-dominated profession. But turning her search for a boyfriend into her greatest priority effectively cancels this out.
 For a show written and produced by an intelligent woman with plenty of experience in the television industry, Kaling does almost nothing to avoid the clich?(c)s too often found in depictions of women on television. In a feature she wrote for The New Yorker in October 2011, Kaling discusses the unrealistic, one-note archetypes used to portray women in romantic comedies. She identifies stereotypes like the beautiful but klutzy Katherine Heigl type, the quirky girl next door, and the uptight career-obsessed woman "who is no fun at all." The Mindy Project creates a slightly more developed personality than these annoying female character tropes, but what good is this if Mindy obsesses over her love life as female characters too often do?

Of course, there are plenty of TV shows that portray women in more progressive, complex ways. It seems that sitcoms are the genre of television that most frequently resorts to these tired standards of female characters, just to score a laugh. For instance, Modern Family's uptight mom Claire Dunphy.
There is a tendency to play down the importance of the portrayal of characters like this because these are comedies and therefore meant to be laughed at. HBO's Girls, which follows the lives of four 20-something friends living in New York City, explores more fully what it means today to be young and a woman. Men complicate the lives of these characters, but the focus is on their friendships, their individual eccentricities, their career goals-anxieties we all face irrespective of our genders. This would be a great model for sitcoms to follow in future seasons.

This is an issue that shouldn't be taken lightly. Entertainment is of course meant to be entertaining, but it is also a reflection of our society. Shows like The Mindy Project send false depictions of women to their audiences, and worse, reaffirm the stereotypes we may already hold subconsciously.
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