With recent news of the hit early 2000s TV show “Gilmore Girls” producing four revival episodes on Netflix, teens today who didn’t have the chance to watch the iconic series and nostalgic adults that went through middle and high school with Lorelai and Rory, get to enjoy the original series on the streaming provider. The show is about Lorelai Gilmore, a single mother that is the manager of the Independence Inn, a hotel where she landed her first job as a teen mom, working as a maid. She is known for her outspokenness and eccentric personality. Rory, her daughter, is the overachieving bookworm. Quiet, studious, but witty just like her mother. Landing a boyfriend wasn’t on the agenda, but she wasn’t opposed to the idea either. Rory aspired to attend Harvard University and backpack across Europe with her best friend, who happens to be Lorelai. The two characters defeat the stereotypes that women are given, and aren’t ashamed of their feminist morals. These are four reasons of how “Gilmore Girls” sparked a feminist awakening in women across the globe.
#1 – Lorelai Named Her Daughter After Herself
If you didn’t catch on already, the name “Rory” is actually a nickname for Lorelai. Yes, that’s right! Lorelai named her daughter after herself. In the Pilot episode while meeting Dean for the first time, Rory rambles about the story behind her name. “She named me after herself. She was lying in the hospital thinking about how men name boys after themselves. So why couldn’t women? She says her feminism just kind of took over.”
#2 – An Entire Episode Was Dedicated to the “Perfect Housewife” Mindset.
Season 1, Episode 14’s title is “That Damn Donna Reed.” In the opening scene Lorelai, Rory, and Rory’s boyfriend, Dean are all watching “The Donna Reed Show,” which is about a middle-class housewife, her working husband, and kids. The Gilmores watch the show purely to point out everything that is wrong with the show, which is the 1950s woman in kitchen, cooking for her family every night without much choice in the matter. Dean makes a comment that makes the pair question him. “It all seems nice to me, families hanging together, a wife cooking for her husband. She seems really happy!” Lorelai and Rory rebuttal, saying that Donna is acting from a script, is medicated, and all of her lines are written by a man. This bothers Rory the entire day, because now, she thinks her first boyfriend expects that housewife act out of her. Her main concern about Donna Reed is, “That her one point in life is to serve somebody else. She represented millions of women that had to dress and act like that.” Rory made it very clear that she was okay with women who chose to do that, but it was only a problem when she felt like the women had to.
#3 – Rory Was Not a Sidekick
In most sitcoms and films, there is the eye-candy teenage girl main character, and her quirky and smart best friend. Rory’s character is a mix between the two and everything unexpected. Rory is extremely intelligent, beautiful, funny and her “sidekick,” Lane, is not very different. She uses big words to describe her favorite novels and can get into a heated discussion about Jane Austen any day. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, but does it in a way where she’s not aggressive or exaggerating. She doesn’t care about contests or “being the best” while the “smart girl” stereotypes do.
#4 – Lorelai’s Lifestyle in General
The Gilmore Mom’s uniqueness was extremely refreshing. She left her parent’s house at the age of sixteen to provide for herself and her newborn, and worked her way to the top. She is a caffeine addict, pop-tart enthusiast, and lover of all foods that can be delivered. While she isn’t working, Lorelai sports adorable graphic tees and jeans, and occasionally a bandana in her hair. She doesn’t care about what a mom “should” look like, she just wears whatever she wants, and doesn’t criticize Rory’s fashion choices either. She doesn’t feel like she needs a man, and the most important thing to her is Rory’s happiness. Lorelai is completely unapologetic, blunt, and every other sentence that comes out of her mouth is sarcastic. She is very proud and doesn’t rely on anyone for anything.
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