The Trendification of the Brooklyn Girl

There's a think piece (and I use that term loosely) over on The Cut today about the marketing of the "Brooklyn Girl" in books, TV and movies these days. Apparently, there is a new chick-lit novel out called Brooklyn Girls, and according to Yael Kohen, the author of the article and a Brooklynite herself, it's a total fail when it comes to describing actual girls who live in Brooklyn. By way of example, she provides a quote where a tanned, good-looking guy gets out of a cab with an equally good-looking woman. 

Ms. Kohen goes on to describe what she says is the archetype of the Brooklyn Girl:

The well-educated liberal arts grad with a degree in English but no real skill set. Brooklyn Girls wear brown, not black; they go to beer gardens, not lounges or clubs with bottle service; they listen to Spotify, not DJs; they drink bourbon, not scotch. If they diet, it’s under the pretense of healthy eating and frugality; if they exercise, it’s in a park or on a bike. They aspire to have jobs in publishing, not PR. They have artistic temperaments, but think a Pinterest board is the perfect outlet for it; they consume news through Twitter. They live in Brooklyn, supposedly because Manhattan is overpriced. (Not the case in 2013!) But really, they live in Brooklyn because that’s where they can play out their millennial urban agita rituals with others like themselves.

This description is gleaned from what we see on shows like Girls (set mostly in Bushwick), Two Broke Girls (set in Williamsburg), The New Girl (set in L.A., but come on, it sure seems like Brooklyn), and Portlandia (which is basically Brooklyn). Ms. Kohen seems to have beef with the successful, female creators of these shows for portraying these young women as bumbling and inept, when in fact, recent studies show that women are anything but. Studies show this! 

In 2007, a study out of Queens College found that young, childless women in New York and other large urban areas were outearning their male counterparts. Three years later — after the recession had begun — a follow-up study onlyconfirmed the data.  And earlier this year, we learned that women are increasingly the chief breadwinners in their households, which implies that they had some sort of career foundation in their twenties. 

And therefore, there should only be completely accurate portrayals of people on TV. Like on those Real Housewives shows.