I did not expect much from Bridgerton. While I am somewhat familiar with the books, I expected the Netflix adaptation to make the period romance into a soap opera rather than a faithful adaptation. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised with the liberties the show took to speak to a modern audience. The colorblind casting of the actors and how the show navigated social identities was refreshing. Often times it feels like the media is forcing diversity instead of embracing it, but Bridgerton did it with subtly. During this Monday evening chat there were differing opinions about female powerlessness. Socioeconomic status seemed to relate to the freedom a woman had to live her life, and many of us thought high society was a restrictive lifestyle. Who daughters married was a direct reflection on the family and their siblings future prospects. The same did not hold true for the middle and lower classes. Were all women really powerless? The lack of education, inability to go anywhere or speak one’s mind without consequence, and other factors suggest so. However, with female characters in the show exemplifying how women could escape these barriers (albeit with much effort) and to some extent determine their future, women of that period were not helpless. What was their power was their courage. For a modern woman like myself, it was difficult to swallow the hurdles the main women had to confront, but I enjoyed Bridgerton for how it handled these outdated modalities. While it is a fictional take on history, it is an entertaining one that had a lot to say beyond what I could cover in a single blog post. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in historical media or just looking for a show to binge watch. You will not regret it.