Touted as one of the best feminist TV Shows by Glamour, Gilmore Girls is a witty drama that ran for six consecutive seasons on The WB, and was followed by a Netflix special a decade later called A Year in the Life. Lorelei and her daughter Rory are the focal point of the show, with much of the drama centering on Rory’s romantic relationships as she enters high school and through college. As a single mother, Lorelei is attempting to navigate raising a teenager while not repeating the patterns of her parents.
Richard and Emily Gilmore, Lorelei’s parents, were the quintessential high-society family until Lorelei became pregnant as a teenager. Upon her parents trying to control the situation, she ran away and got a job at a motel in Stars Hollow. Her mother, in turn, held these actions over her head, as if how one is perceived was more important than comforting her daughter. Emily may not have been the mother Lorelei needed, but she was the mother who was driven by love. The relationships each Gilmore woman has with each other, their friends, and beaus were equally heartwarming and troubling. As lauded as the show was, however, time has revealed how Gilmore Girls perpetuated misogyny and toxic femininity. Here’s how.
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Mothers and Daughters and Legacies
Warner Bros. Television
Slut-shaming occurs when someone, commonly women or woman-presenting individuals, is degraded for their implied sexual prowess. This form of misogyny runs rampant in projects like Gilmore Girls, not for added realism or as an empowering way to navigate misogyny, but to, in fact, reinforce misogyny. Slut-shaming has a variety of effects: negative body-image, depression, and suicide ideation or attempts. Emily (Kelly Bishop) persistently slut-shamed and guilted Lorelei for getting pregnant as a teenager. Lorelei (Lauren Graham) continued this narrative when her daughter, Rory, began dating in high school. An element that is pervasive to the slut shaming narrative, that Gilmore Girls showcased really well, was the woman as the perpetrator of any physical intimacy: Lorelei was blamed for her teen pregnancy and Rory was a social pariah for having an affair with a married man. In both instances, the teenage boy and married man were blameless.
Junk Food Obsession
Warner Bros Television
Fat-phobia falls under the same category as transphobia, homophobia, and Islamophobia — the oppression of people’s bodies, as Self explains. Being anti-fat has significant implications in various matters, but mostly in medical instances. According to the Obesity Research Journal, fat patients experience less compassionate communication from their primary care physicians, implying that patients are less likely to consider their doctor’s opinion. NPR outlines how anti-fat narratives are racist as well, stating that when colonizers displaced Black people, French philosophers discussed in disturbing detail how a Black woman’s body was unacceptable for French women. This narrative of fat bodies being undesirable ran rampant through Gilmore Girls; Rory and Lorelei swear by a diet of coffee and junk food yet never gain weight. In college, Rory reviews a ballet for Yale’s newspaper; she hyper-fixates on the ballerina’s weight as Lorelei pointed out a body roll. In this instance, body rolls and enjoying junk food are fun, adorable quirks for thin bodies, but a death sentence for fat bodies. The idea of body currency is when one body shape and size are more valuable than others.
Affairs, Exes, and Life-Long Loves
Netflix
A Year in the Life was set ten years after the Season 6 finale. Emily was learning to be independent after Richard (Edward Herrmann) passed away. Lorelei and Luke were living together happily. However, Rory was having an identity crisis. She was in a long-distance relationship with Paul while also having an affair with her college beau, Logan (Matt Czuchry), who was engaged to someone else. Rory also ran into her two high school beaus, Dean (Jared Padalecki) and Jess (Milo Ventimiglia), both of whom seemed happy. That said, Jess did look at Rory longingly as if he missed out on a life with her. Rory falls under many tropes, but the one that stands out is that of the spoiled brat. After failing an interview, she throws a literal tantrum in the company’s lobby. During her affair with Logan, she becomes extremely upset that he wants her to stay in a hotel while his fiancée stays with him. Rory isn’t upset that she has to stay in a hotel, but rather that she isn’t his priority. As Emily and Lorelei mended their relationship and grieved, Rory regressed to her teenage self and was unable to move past her exes for someone who was right there, ready to love her.
From Enemies to Best Friends
When Rory begins attending Chilton, the premier private school that comes with an Ivy League admissions guarantee, she faces several academic and interpersonal challenges. One of those challenges comes from Paris Geller (Liza Weil). Their relationship began as a bitter rivalry, as both teenagers were the top of their respective classes. Rory even admitted to Paris that she really wanted to hate her, something Paris agrees with, but discovered she needed a friend like Paris. In college, they room together and while Rory is less than pleased, on many occasions they were there for each other. Yet despite their sisterhood, A Year In The Life chastised Paris’ vulnerability and openness. During an alumni visit to Chilton, Paris has a breakdown in the girls’ bathroom after seeing her high school crush. The dean privately tells Rory that Paris is too intense. In another instance, when Lorelei and Luke consider having a baby, Paris, a fertility specialist, admits that she moved her schedule around, and they are confused by her excitement. Between Gilmore Girls and A Year In The Life, Paris goes from admired to admonished, possibly to mask the mess Rory is facing.
