By Maya Brown

Recently, while watching the newest episode of Glee (I know, I know, but I’m a musical geek, it’s like my drug), I came to a realization. We talk a lot about how the media sexualizes women and makes them into the objects of male fantasies, but the media does a lot more than that. They create a cookie cutter image of girls.

The female leads in TV shows, especially shows aimed at teens, are all very similar. Sure, there are different styles of girl; there’s the pretty preppy one, the stylish ditsy one, the dorky but actually drop dead gorgeous one, or occasionally the driven but popularity-obsessed one. The media does this to appeal to the “average” girl, but all it really does is fit us into a few narrow types.

So what made me realize this while watching Glee, a show that — although I love it — epitomizes stereotypes? Quinn Fabray did. Yes, the former head Cheerio, Quinn. Apparently sometime between the last show of the 2nd season and the premiere of the 3rd, Quinn tried to “find herself.” That is, she dyed her hair, turned punk, and started to hang out with “The Skanks.” As the show makes it appear, she has gone over to the dark side. Viewers are supposed to balk at her black clothes and pink hair and want the old Quinn back. But instead, her transformation made me realize how sick I was of perfect cheerleader Quinn. This new Quinn I could get behind; the girl with attitude, with actual emotion. This is the girl I want a show about.

This is what media is lacking; the edgy girl we haven’t seen since Rayanne in My So Called Life. I want to see a girl with an alternative style who has real emotional depth. I like the girl with the ripped up clothes and badass attitude. What I don’t like is the way Glee is portraying her.

In Glee somehow this new style has made Quinn into a bully who steals other girls’ lunch money. Why does a grunge style have to mean she’s gone bad? Why is the media so black and white? I want to see girls who like punk music but want to be a psychologist when they’re older. I want to see girls who give their younger siblings a ride to soccer practice on their motorcycles. I want real girls on TV, girls who don’t fit into a specific image, but are complex and deep. I want a show about a girl who enjoys indie music, defines herself as a feminist, and loves teaching kids about theatre. In short, I want a tv show about me.