Feminism is no longer dirty word. With women becoming more assertive about their rightful place at the table both on screen and in real life, you no longer have to comb the haystack to find shows with strong female leads and complex back stories that don’t circle solely around their relationships with men. Awaken your inner goddess as you binge watch these series on Netflix this month that will help you love characters that you never thought of and stories that you wouldn’t have seen before.
Take a look at these 10 feminist shows:
1. Glow
Set in 1980s LA, a crew of misfits reinvent themselves as the gorgeous ladies of wrestling. Glow is the fictional story of Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress, who finds her last chance of stardom when she enters the world of wrestling. Sam Sylvia, a B-movie director, tries to lead this group of women to the wrestling legend status. The show deals with complex themes, even touching upon abortion.
2. Grace and Frankie
These unlikely friends are thrown together by the most inconvenient of circumstances — their husbands, who used to be business partners, announce that they have been gay lovers for the better part of the last two decades. As sophisticated Grace (Jane Fonda) and eccentric Frankie (Lily Tomlin) begin to bond through their emotional turmoil, they hold up a mirror to the unique problems women of this age face when they’re on their own.
3. Orange Is The New Black
When the Emmy-winning series premiered in 2013, it initially focused on New York sophisticate turned criminal Piper Chapman. The story has now evolved to highlight the many individual struggles of the women in Litchfield County Prison, a rarely told story of incarceration and criminal rehabilitation in America.
4. The Crown
The story of Britain’s current ruling monarch, Queen Elizabeth, the much-awarded series focuses on a young queen who is forced to steer her country through post-war rehabilitation and the dismantling of the British Empire.
5. Lady Dynamite
Based on the life of its leading lady, comedian Maria Bamford, the surreal story follows the main character’s messed-up life. The Guardian insists it leaves “no television convention unmolested”, calling it a pleasure to watch.
6. The Fall
A detective superintendent battles her own personal demons as she tries to get inside the head of a serial killer hiding behind a family-man facade. Drama that revolves around murders and serials killers. Keeps you on your toes to know what’s coming next. Stella Gibson s successful in establishing authority in a field run bby men as she takes down the male dominated field, fights the patriarchy and hunts down the criminals on her own terms. This is by far the most feminist show you will see.
7. One day at a time
A divorcee, single mom and well a war vet turned nurse. Watch the challenges she faces while raising her teen daughter, twin sons with the help of her old school mom.
8. Fuller house
The Tanner family’s adventures continue as DJ Tanner-Fuller shares a home with her sister Stephanie and friend Kimmy who help raise her three boys- Dad, Joey and Uncle Jesse. Watch her run the family like a boss.
9. Girlboss
Rebellious and broke, Sophia stumbles into creating an online business, which meant selling vintage clothes on e-bay, and learns how to be the boss building a multi millionaire empire at 28. A comedy inspired by the best-selling memoir by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the fashion brand Nasty Gal.
10. Marvel’s Jessica Jones
What’s a list of feminist inspirations without a Marvel character?
Jessica Jones is haunted by her traumatic past and she decides to use her gifts as a private eye to find the tormenter before he can harm anyone at the Hell’s Kitchen.
So, what are you waiting for? Get your popcorn, girl gang and pyjamas on.
