“No one will ever take advantage of them,” Shonda Rhimes says of her three daughters, Beckett, Emerson and Harper, whose stubbornness she adores.
The a 46-year-old single parent and award-winning powerhouse behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder says that she was similar growing up. She believes that it’s more beneficial to have a stubborn daughter, rather than a nice one.
“It’s so much better than having a nice, pliable child who can easily be manipulated,” Rhimes told Good Housekeeping. She believes that her daughters’ stubbornness will protect them from being manipulated by others and believes that this means, “they will always go their own way because they have decided they’re going to.”
This can even be said for the three main characters of Rhimes’ hit shows on ABC. Meredith Grey, Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating are all women who, while vulnerable, lead their lives based on their own personal convictions. They’re stubborn but strong, and as Rhimes noted, unable to be shifted by others.
She also addressed these characters in the interview, referencing how others are astonished by the concept of a ‘strong woman’.
“I keep getting asked how I write about such smart, strong women, and my response is, ‘What’s the alternative? Weak, stupid women?'”
Rhimes also addressed some of the criticisms the characters she writes.
“They’re just normal people, not role models — if you’re aspiring to be like any of them, something’s a little bit wrong. You may want to dress like one or have her job, but do not aspire to be her!” she said.
Strong women, and strong girls aren’t hard to come by. Maybe Hollywood will take note of Rhimes’ parenting skills in the writers’ room, and at home.
