The industry has long been obsessed with shows about single, messy, white women in low-paying jobs. See Single Drunk Female, Two Broke Girls, The Mick, Broad City, and Lesser Things, to name a few. Their emotional unavailability is always a big deal. However, unlike traditional television where the seemingly nice man "breaks through" to the woman's trust**, the men are more realistically disappointing.
This dynamic is delightfully self-aware in Fleabag. The protagonist tells us in the second episode, "I'm not obsessed with sex. I just can't stop thinking about it. The performance of it. The awkwardness of it. The drama of it. The moment you realize somebody wants your body. Not so much the feeling of it." These are the words of a woman who has done time in Heterosexia.
My favorite thing about Fleabag's sex life is that in a cathartic twist, it's the men who are disappointed at the end of each date. Because Fleabag always remains in control. Harry wants her to only orgasm from him--not even to masturbate. Martin straight-up molests her and hates her for not giving in. The male retreat next to the female retreat literally screams "SLUT" every hour on the hour. The man-child in episode 3 gets everything he wants from the date and still hates Fleabag at the end, for...? Not falling in love after a single date? Not throwing her arms around him and begging him to be her boyfriend?
In a pitiful confession, the man-child says, "You don't grow up with teeth like these and not-notice when someone is faking it." Which is hilarious, because he didn't seem to notice (or mind) that they weren't connecting the whole night leading up to that moment.
I'm enjoying the reality of disappointing sex in Fleabag, and how it throws shots at the patriarchal fantasies of Heterosexia. But I'm also looking forward to more shows where women are happily single/playing. Queer women. Straight women. Trans. Cis. Non-binaries living in sexual freedom. I'm so fatigued with how much people ask single women in television, "Are you really happy?" or "Are you alone?" as if the only happiness is through romance, and the only way to not-be-alone is to have a monogamous partner who both lives with you and has sex with you. No one (on TV) asks powerful men whether they're happy or feel alone, and from what I've read in the threads, they'd really like to be asked that more often.
(I'm looking at you, men. Ask each other this. Women are done taking care of you.)
Shrill is a great step in this direction, and I've heard wonderful things from Everything's Trash, which may have to be next on my list.
Let's get some happy, slutty, liberated women who actually enjoy their time alone. I want some scenes of happy women drinking wine in bed and masturbating, because the bed is actually a fantastic place for those refreshing activities.
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**What? You mean that 2 weeks of him "putting it all on the line" (consistently treating her like a person) isn't enough for her to trust him?? What more do you want??
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