McAvoy: Jane By Design Lets A Girl Be A Girl

In today's America, a woman -- that's what we're supposed to call one now: not "a lady," even if you think she is one; certainly not "a girl" -- can do anything she wants, whether the rest of us are ready to keep up with her or not. She can be a Presidential candidate (even if she was a First Lady, better not refer to her by that title!), a Supreme Court Justice, a spy, a soldier, and even an astronaut, though there was that one lady-- sorry, that one woman astronaut who kind of gave the whole lot of them a bad name. And with all of popular culture seemingly trying to convince us that we've achieved true equality and that the differences between the sexes have been erased -- which is my understanding of feminism, and probably the reason none of the girls-- women, women in my life tend to want to place themselves in that camp -- I appreciate that at least one primetime show is giving us a female character who relishes being a girl, girlish interests, and girlishness in general.

The show is Jane By Design, which returned with a midseason premiere last night. In case you're not in the habit of following the teen dramas of ABC Family, it revolves around Jane Quimby (Erica Dasher), a motherless high-school girl being raised by her brother Ben (David Clayton Rogers). Meaning to apply for an internship with a fashion designer, Jane tumbles into a real job; not wanting to give it up, she undertakes to hide the truth about her age and embarks upon a double life, toggling between high school and high fashion, as the show's marketing has it.

I realize that the show was not meant for someone of my stature or sex, but what strikes me about Jane By Design is how cheerfully it embraces the tropes of femininity that, even though we're not supposed to say so, we all know to be true.

First: girls like fashion. They like to look pretty and flounce around -- mostly for each other, and they know it -- and they love putting themselves in positions of authority with regard to style so that maybe, just maybe, someone will ask them for a makeover. What high-school girl wouldn't want to work for a fashion designer, get a crack at all the latest looks, maybe "borrow" them for special occasions? They all would.

Second: girls get themselves into scrapes. They make mistakes, especially at work, that if a man were responsible might get him fired, but that, when girls are to blame, are so cute that all you can do is chuckle and pat them on the head and, if they get very upset about them, hand them your linen handkerchief to wipe away their pitiful tears. There's a little girl who works at my office. I won't say her name, to protect her modesty, but she's just a tiny slip of a thing -- blonde hair, of course, and a forehead you could park a Buick on -- and this girl gets into the craziest hijinks almost every day she comes in. She sources a story with a guy she used to date; she sets up her office crush with her roommate; she's just a klutz all around -- but an endearing klutz. My point is, my experience working with this young woman makes it easy for me to understand why Jane would go through such contortions over a simple case of mistaken identity. Girls are good at contortions.

Third: girls are good at deception. It's a skill they learn when they're young and figure out what things they need to say to wrap their daddies around their little fingers. If I've seen it once, I've seen it a thousand times. A high-school boy could never keep up a cover story like Jane does even if it was to save his dream job -- being a PA at a highly respected nightly news program for instance. (Is that too self-serving? Fine -- at a baseball card company, then.) Boys are awkward and unpolished, tripping over their suddenly big feet and getting surprise erections. But even the klutziest girl can bounce back and cover with aplomb. If you need a lie: get a girl. Why do you think so many work for me? I trip over my big tongue all the time: I need them to smooth things over.

So congratulations to Jane for returning to Gray Chandler Murray and successfully keeping her secret. I knew that she could. After all, she's a girl.