Through Daria: Exploring Feminism, Race, and Growth
Words by Calypso Morgan
Graphics by Emma Wirt
If you grew up in the late 90s and/or early 2000s and had access to MTV, you probably watched the animated series “Daria.” When I started watching “Daria,” it was years after it ended, probably around 2007. (I was born in 2000, so that’s why!) I got hooked right away. Even though I didn’t understand the humour because I was young, I still loved it. I enjoyed the simple animation and the music from the opening credits, “You're Standing On My Neck" by Splendora. I also loved the characters, had a crush on Jane, and admired the monotone voice of Daria. Recently, I did a marathon of all 5 seasons and the two films, and even as an adult, it remains one of my favourite sitcoms.
Created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn, the story follows Daria Morgendorffer, a sarcastic and intelligent teenager, along with her best friend Jane Lane, an aspiring artist. We follow moments of their high school life in the small town of Lawndale, along with a range of different characters: Daria’s sister Quinn, a shopping addict; Jane’s brother Trent, a rocker; the airheads Brittany the cheerleader and Kevin the football player; and more. Each episode centres on the difficult and awkward moments they face throughout their teenage life.
“Daria” is still popular and impactful for new viewers. It may be about cynical, chucklesome comments, but it also serves as a critique of our world. Despite how old the show is, many of its viewpoints can still be applied to our time.
The show manages to juggle stereotypical traits in teenage high school students. At the same time, it avoids making the characters two-dimensional. Let’s focus on the protagonist’s little sister, Quinn. She is popular, boys like her, and she is part of their high school’s fashion club. Quinn embodies the cliché of a popular girl, but the show reveals that she is more than a pretty face. In the first film, “Is It Fall Yet?” (2000), Quinn hires a tutor to bring her grades up. Throughout the story, it becomes clear that she’s quite smart, but doesn’t want to be labelled a ‘brain’ because she fears being excluded from her group. The elements of the ‘popular girl’ trope depict an ideal and the peer pressure to fit a certain mould. This ideal is reinforced by a patriarchal ideology that says, ‘Be pretty and shut up.’ Through the series, Quinn grows into an emotionally intelligent person.
In “Daria,” the idea of womanhood is constantly questioned. Even Daria, considered a misfit, has moments of doubt and insecurity. In Season 3, Episode 2, titled “Through a Lens Darkly,” she starts wearing contact lenses to improve her vision while learning to drive. However, Daria soon becomes unsure about this new change. She fears that the image she carefully built will be scrambled and worries she’ll become a hypocrite. She criticizes girls for caring about their appearances, but now she’s considering making changes to her own. In the series, Daria is often confronted by these internal conflicts, both about herself and others.
One of these conflicts involves the subject of race. One of the characters I didn’t mention earlier is Jodie, one of the few Black characters in the show. She is popular, excels academically, and the president of various school groups. Throughout the series, she has friendly interactions with Daria. They are both intelligent young girls and recognize the hypocrisy of how much importance is placed on appearances. The main difference between them is how the system marginalizes them as women. Daria is marginalized because she doesn’t fit the mould of a perfect, pretty teenager, but Jodie will still be marginalized even if she checks all the boxes of a successful student. Her skin colour alone will set her apart from her peers. She represents a minority, not only in the series (due to the lack of diversity in characters) but also in real life. Because of this, Jodie feels pressure to be the perfect representation of her community. She can’t afford to let them down. In Season 2, Episode 8, titled “Gifted,” Daria is confronted by her privilege as a white girl; unlike Jodie, she can express her cynicism freely and doesn’t need to justify her every move. The show illustrates how feminists need to listen to the voices of women of colour. It highlights the multiple discriminations and microaggressions they face constantly.
What I find great about this animated series is that Daria and the other characters learn and grow. They are teenagers who gradually understand more about the world around them, and their high school experiences help shape this understanding. Most of us had similar experiences during our time in school, and possess a piece of Daria, Jodie, and the others inside us, so we can use these round, big glasses to see some of the hypocrisies in the world. The commentary on feminism and race in “Daria” demonstrate that you have a voice–use it to challenge regressive opinions.