Mediating Girls

How do you see media “mediating” girl identity? One aspect that I have been seeing a great deal of lately is instances in which ‘independent, career-oriented women’ are put in positions where they need to be rescued or saved by men. Additionally, if they are not portrayed as needing the help of a man, they are shown as somehow unfit for a romantic relationship with a man. I am admittedly somewhat addicted to police shows with strong female leads. I have seen this especially on crime shows such as The Closer, Covert Affairs and Rizzoli and Isles. The women are shown as in control of their lives and their careers but the only one out of these three shows who is in a relationship is Brenda on The Closer and hers is continually fraught with conflict because of her devotion to her career and the dangerous nature of her work. The other three women are shown as sexy (they must always be sexy), capable, talented, and driven but these qualities prove to be incompatible with maintaining heterosexual romantic relationships. These shows seem to say, implicitly and explicitly, that if a woman can take care of herself, she leaves no room for a man. I think this is interesting because in the representation of these character’s counterparts, the men are not shown as quite so incomplete or faulty. It is not such an anomaly to be a driven professional.