To think that Bridget Jones is a terrible role model for women?

[malificent7]

I quite like the films...they are funny... but they do make me cringe.
Bridget overhears Mark Darcy slag her off. ( calling her a spinster- terrible sexist word) then ends up obsessed with him.
She has a perfectly lovely figure but we are led to believe she is fat as she permanently struggles to loose weight and become like her "stick insect" love rivals..
She is quite inept and bumbling....adorable but useless.
That bloody song " all by myself!"

I know as women we can probably all relate to Bridget on some level ..especially her insecueities but bloody hell...we should not want to be like her!

Am I missing the point here? Are the films/ book sexist or are they trying to highlight sexism? Either way...Bridget Jones is anti feminist .

I’ve made a mental note to use wally more, it had faded into my recesses years ago

I don’t think Bridget Jones was ever meant to be a role model.

I think most women just identified with some of her insecurities and saw some of themselves in her, as opposed to wanting to be her.

Not a role model but an over exaggerating feeling that some people have plus some Jane Austen thrown in

"No of course not but back in the day she was upheld as a heroine...wow 20 years already!! Life goes too fast!"

No she bloody wasn't! I was mid 20s when the book came out, and she definitely wasn't my heroine, or in the fact the heroine of anyone I knew.

Bridget was hopeless, and pathetic in many ways, but the book was funny.

She's female porn. Fantasy about how gormlessly girlie you can be but still succeed and be loved. Just as unreal as male porn about submissive beautiful women and unlikely levels of virility. I wouldn't worry too much about either.

Who is Bridget Jones?

Agree she's not meant to be a shining role model - or is she? Is it not just saying that it's ok to be normal, have flaws and make mistakes?
My husband insists it's not feminist. I argue that it is, partly on the basis that it's written by a woman about women and for women.
There are different types of feminism, I consider myself a feminist and am quite happy to have a fairly bumbling character to relate to/with as long as that's not the full picture of feminism.
I guess mark Darcy 'rescues' her which is old fashioned, but then bridget rescues him in some ways too.
I still enjoy watching them when I catch them on tv and enjoyed all the books too.

Ha! I'm nearly 60 and married to a former QC. Except I have stayed married for nearly 30 years. I totally and completely get it. Although DH was penniless when we met. With a bit more grit and teamwork Bridge could have had it all. Says more about the fragility of her generation than meets the eye I'd say. She reaped what she sowed and Mark deserved better and was v forgiving.

Sorry, but seen it played out too many times in rl. It's a hard gig but the rewards are high for all.

YANBU I feel the same about her.

Is this really what we have come to?

She's not supposed to be a role model, it's entertainment not an advert for the new messiah!

@Den1se

Who is Bridget Jones?

She led the rebels to victory in 1527 during the Elbonia Uprising.

Love Bridget because she made me feel normal. She is me (minus the drinking/fags/mr darcy).

She's gorgeous in the first film. Not fat at all. Definitely fat in the second film although they deliberately squeezed her into too tight outfits. Last film was good script wise although not having daniel cleaver ruined it.

I read an article that interestingly called Fleabag this generation's Bridget Jones. I also love Fleabag as like Bridget, I can relate to her but again I'm not exactly the same (only been with the one man - my DH!)

I never thought of Bridget as a 'role model'. I saw her as a fairly typical woman of that age - someone people can relate to but not aspire to.

Why are women forever meant to be role models yet no one complains that the mass murderers in Stephen King books aren't very nice for other men to look up to?

Thank you,Sheba.

Jesus but she wasn't even remotely role model material.

She was vacuous, self absorbed and ditzy, in the way some people are.

I enjoyed the movies for the mindless entertainment they were.

Certainly didn't get any social messages from it.🤣

She was never set up to be a role model though.

Please tell me this is deep irony !!!

Why are women forever meant to be role models yet no one complains that the mass murderers in Stephen King books aren't very nice for other men to look up to?

Indeed. The very idea that women should be forever 'looking up' to someone and that fictional characters that fail to provide morally rigorous leadership to the feminine flock, is itself, a deeply unfeminist concept.

In the meantime men are free to carry on as (generally perceived) morally mature leaders of their own destiny, fully able to judge and find the entertainment value in the flaws of others.

And yes, she and Darcy were good for each other, a la P&P.

@GlummyMcGlummerson
@IdblowJonSnow

She is a normal woman!!

Oh for goodness sake it’s just a bit of fun!

@Happycat74

Oh for goodness sake it’s just a bit of fun!

That scene where she slides down the pole nearly killed me in the cinema.

I was eating something and it went down wrong as I was roaring laughing.

Just hilarious.

She’s not supposed to be a role model dur.

Are we only allowed to read/watch films about perfect people now or something?

She was lovably fallible

I read the book in my early 20s and loved the excitement of her life in London. I’d just
moved to a city from very rural and was in my first proper job. It hinted at the fun to come

I disagree Mark deserved better, he needed her help to unclench! Mutually beneficial relationship