New Girl, which debuted in 2011, attempts to defy traditional gender roles and help support the narrative that gender roles in American society are ever-changing and evolving. This show is centered around Jessica Day, a quirky teacher who goes through a break up and moves into an apartment with four other male roommates. Jess proves that girls can be feminine in the traditional sense of wearing dresses with matching heels, showing her love for baking and baby animals, and getting emotional at times, while also showing the strong side of a women who fights for what they want and points out the double standards society has for men and women. In season one, she stands up to a lawyer who sees her as a weak woman in the traditional sense by saying, “I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours … And that doesn’t mean I’m not smart and tough and strong.” While Jess is at times portrayed as a traditionally feminine girl who cries over her break ups and worries about her biological clock running out of time, she is able to make decisions for herself and ask her boss for a raise and isn’t seen as the standard bumbling blonde who can’t make her own decisions or speak for herself.

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The pressed suits and shiny loafer loving character, Schmidt, also defies the traditionally masculine role. While he does portray certain stereotypical masculine behaviors of making sexist or obnoxious comments resulting in a payment to the douchebag jar and his infatuation with Jess’s best friend who’s a model, he takes on more of a feminine role being the sort of mother of the loft, who appreciates gourmet cooking, cleaning, and fashion. Schmidt displays that men don’t have to constantly prove their masculinity by engaging in hyper masculine activities such as drinking beer or loving motorcycles to be considered a “real man.” In season four of New Girl, the guys get excited at the idea of a guy’s night when Jess goes out of town for a weekend. This guy’s night quickly turns into a night filled with doing laundry, drinking pink wine, and talking about their feelings. It breaks the traditional masculine mold that men don’t talk about their feelings or risk doing anything seen as feminine for fear of jeopardizing their masculinity.

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I do think that television is evolving when it comes to portrayals of gender roles. With the rise of the feminism movement, women are being portrayed as more powerful, strong, and smart in leading roles on television shows today. While most shows still show the men performing traditionally masculine tasks and the women performing traditionally feminine ones, it is not seen as strange or threatening to a man’s masculinity for a woman to exhibit traditionally masculine behaviors or roles. It is not uncommon for women on television shows now to be portrayed as the boss or the smartest person in the room. This is a very different portrayal than the traditionally feminine ones on previous shows even just a few years ago.