Liz Lemon: Patron Saint of Spinsters

I have a really hard time with the way most single women in their 30's are portrayed on television. They all seem to fit into a couple of different stereotypes:

1. Sexy, confident, sassy girl: She's got the world on a string, knows how to talk to men, is excellent at her job, might have a few foibles (she spends too much money on shoes, has commitment issues, etc), but she's gorgeous, perfect, in control. . . and makes me feel inadequate.

2. Bitter, angry, man-hater girl: she's generally a minor character brought on a show as a contrast to the really wonderful hot girl the main character is dating or to be a source of irritation for the male lead. She generally gets to make a lot of really funny sarcastic comments, and is usually really smart, but makes me uncomfortable. I don't like the idea that this is the way people view me.

3. Quirky clutzy girl: as hot as girl #1 but has lost her memory/was abducted by aliens/has vivid and delusional daydreams/etc. This girl is so out there that I can't see myself in her, yet she always seems to find her way into a great job/relationship/etc. Annnnnnnnd she says funny things along the way.

4. The shy awkward girl who is actually neither shy or awkward. She says she's bad at men yet magically finds ones who want to date her. She's really #1 in sheep's clothing. This girl makes me feel stupid and inadequate because I truly am shy and awkward and I keep expecting to NOT be when the time is right, but it never happens.

Then came Liz Lemon.





Liz is the first woman on network tv that I can totally identify with. She's smart, talented and funny, but she's also messy. She can't control her life no matter how much she'd like to. She actually walks around (in bicurious sensible shoes) with food in her hair (at BYU my roommates said that on my headstone, chiseled into granite, would be the words "She had food in her hair."), and dreams of island vacations where she can wear comfy socks with her sandals and read a book. She bought a wedding dress even though she wasn't even dating anyone because it was on sale, and then wore it to work to prove she wasn't a pathetic sad spinster. She doesn't think of the right thing to say when she wants to say it. She loves worships Oprah. She's bad at men.

She's a dork.

A dork like me.

Annnnnnnd because Liz Lemon is not a real person, but is instead a character on the very very popular television show 30 Rock, we get to see what would happen if someone as bad at men as I am were to meet the most gorgeous male creature on earth: John Hamm




Oh Liz, we all want to go to there.

As happy as I was to have John Hamm back in my life (Mad Men Season 2 when will you come out on DVD??) I worried that my Liz was going to morph into single girl #4. I needn't have worried:




(If you want to get to know Liz and love her like I do, you have a chance tonight at 9:30 after my other favorite show The Office.)