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How Eloise Bridgerton perfectly incapsulates the shows flaws and best attributes

January 04, 2021
Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton in Netfix's 'Bridgerton'
Curtsey of Netflix
Sandra Salathe
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Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers.

There's something to be said about a heroine who chooses to separate from societal norms and make her own way in life. In my opinion, it makes for a more interesting story. This is not the case with the protagonist at the epicenter of Netflix's latest drama, 'Bridgerton'. One would argue Daphne Bridgerton, the eldest of the Bridgerton clan, is as far from a heroine as one can get.

Throughout the series, Daphne spends the majority of her time either worrying about marriage or having children. Apart from playing the piano, Daphne offers minimal interest in anything unrelating to matrimonial affairs. In fact, Daphne is so obsessed with conforming to traditional norms, when her husband, The Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page) refuses to give her children, she forces him to ejaculate inside her in a scene that can only be described as rape.

Not only does the scene showcase Daphne's manipulative demeanor, but it also sheds light on a different narrative of non-consensual sex. One can only imagine how Jane Austen would react to such a heroine. We can thank Hollywood's romanticization regarding toxic and abusive relationships.

But all is not lost for the Bridgerton crew. Where Daphne lacks depth, her sister Eloise surely makes up for in spades.

Outspoken, spirited and independent, Eloise Bridgerton (played by Claudia Jessie) is a far more compelling character than her eldest sister. Eager to make her own way in the world, Eloise spends more time mocking London society than finding a suitable husband to take care of her. She smokes cigarettes in secret, engages in suggestive banter with her brothers and dreams of attending university instead of playing house.

What makes Eloise so captivating is her defiance of social norms. Although the majority of women in the series are solely focused on procuring a husband, Eloise rejects the concept in every way. This kind of mentality is empowering for modern audiences, especially during a post #TimesUp era.

In fact, if it weren't for Eloise's storyline, I might've lost interest after the first episode. Ok, I'm not going to lie: the steamy sex scenes weren't bad either. Although the show is interesting enough, the storyline is predictable in regards to its main character. We have a heroine searching for love, only to end up with a broodingly handsome Duke, securing both a husband and a title.

Shocker.

What irritated me about the overall series is how the strongest, most compelling female characters are perceived as sidekicks or worse: dishonorable. Case and point: Sienna Rosso (played by Sabrina Bartlett). Sienna is an accomplished opera singer who lives her life according to her own rules. Despite being in love with Anthony Bridgeton (Jonathan Bailey), Siena refuses him to continue stringing her along. In the finale, Siena finally ends things with Anthony, inevitably prioritizing her self-respect over her feelings for him.

An empowering character like Siena should be celebrated. Instead, she is depicted as a prostitute and deemed improper. The same can be said for Madam Delacroix, the dressmaker who owns her own dress shop. These were the stories I was most interested in. Stories consisting of powerful, yet complex women who refuse to fit into the role society created for them.

Yet, it was Daphne's boring portrayal of securing a husband that managed to become the focal point of the show. Why are we still telling these patriarchal stories? Don't get me wrong, motherhood and marriage are beautiful blessings. However, they shouldn't be synonymous with a woman's overall worth.

Women are multifaceted creatures who have the ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully the writers create more opportunity for Eloise during the next season; giving viewers a heroine women not only root for, but relate to.


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Can tech help female entrepreneurs break the bias?

Women founders continue to come up against common challenges and biases
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Written by Kelly Devine, Division President UK & Ireland, Mastercard

Starting a business may have historically been perceived as a man’s game, but this couldn’t be further from reality. Research shows women are actually more likely than men to actively choose to start their own business – often motivated by the desire to be their own boss or to have a better work-life balance and spend more time with their family.

The recently published Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurship 2021 found that in the category of 'Aspiration Driven Entrepreneurship’ – capturing those who actively choose to start their own business – women in the UK surpass men: 60% vs 56%. And Mastercard research from February 2022 found 10% of female business owners started their business in the past two years compared to 6% of men – meaning women were 67% more likely to have started a business during the pandemic.

Yet, there are common challenges that women founders continue to come up against - not least the gender imbalance in the household and long-held biases which are still prevalent.

In the UK, women are almost three times more likely to be balancing care and home commitments than men, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic as the additional barriers of school closures and lockdowns meant that the care time of dependents rose significantly on a day-to-day level for women. In addition, women were less likely to have access to a home office, greatly impacting the work they were able to accomplish when working from home was the only option.

It's also widely known that female business owners are still more likely to struggle to access funding for their business ideas. According to Dealroom, all-women founding teams received just 1.4% of the €23.7bn invested into UK start-ups in 2021, while all-male leadership teams have taken almost 90% of the available capital.

Without financial support, and when juggling significant time pressures both at home and at work, how can women grow their companies and #BreaktheBias (as this year’s International Women’s Day termed it)? What tools or support can save them time and money, and give them the headspace they need to focus on building their business?

With female owned businesses collectively estimating revenue growth of £120 billion over the next five years, solving this problem is bigger than supporting women – it’s about supporting the national economy.

Using tech to level the playing field

There are clearly societal issues at play that need to be resolved. But when we look at the rise in technology businesses during the pandemic, we can plainly see an alternative source of support critical for business growth: digital tools.

A third of female business owners say new technologies will be crucial to the success of their business in the future and one in five say it is the most important thing for business growth.

With new technology comes new ways to pay, create, and work. And yet there are barriers that prevent business owners accessing this technology. Women are significantly more likely to say they want to use more digital tools but don’t know what is best for their business and also more concerned about the security of digital tools.

When technology is adopted by businesses – whether using online accounting solutions or messenger services for communicating with staff – it saves them time, allows them to maintain and grow their customer base, and ultimately increases cost savings and profit.

By drastically improving the training and support that is available to women-owned business to access and utilise technology we will allow these businesses to grow and succeed. And we know there is demand for it.

Research done by the IFC and Dalberg shows that female entrepreneurs are more likely to invest time and money in business development. This includes product development, customer base expansion, and digital tools and training and there are plenty of services available offering this type of support – many of them for free.

One such programme is Strive UK – an initiative of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth – which aims to reach 650,000 micro and small business owners across the UK and empower them with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy through free guidance, helpful tools and one-to-one mentoring.

Working together with small business experts – Enterprise Nation, Be the Business and Digital Boost – we hope to ensure hundreds of thousands of UK female business owners have the tools they need to succeed and reach their ambitious goals. Because this ambition remains strong in the UK, with female business owners largely optimistic about the future despite the multitude of challenges they are facing. Four in ten say they will grow their business in the next five years – compared to only a third of male business owners – and they’re also 35% less likely than men to say they plan to downsize or close the business.

But if we do not empower female entrepreneurs to access the tools and technology they need to grow, there is a risk this optimism could be misplaced. Support programmes that provide business owners with guidance and mentorship can help ensure this isn’t the case, allowing female entrepreneurs to not only survive but thrive in the months and years ahead.