"Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce" Raises Awareness of Crucial Issues in Divorce in Virginia

Bravo’s new series, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” seems to be fighting to become the new “Sex and the City,” and its powerful themes have implications for the culture of Virginia divorce.

The show shares aesthetically similarities with Sex and The City, in that it also features upper class white women complaining about the men in their lives. However, “Girlfriends’ Guide” also offers characters that divorced women can identify with in their emotional and financial struggles.

Lisa Edelstein (of “House” fame), Janeane Garofalo, and Beau Garrett star in the series. Edelstein plays Abby, an author who supports her family with sales from her popular books while her husband takes care of the children. Since Abby’s books are about marriage, she has a financial interest in maintaining her own. However, her husband is doing less than his part; he’s having an affair with a younger woman. But he continues to live at home for the benefit of their two children.

Abby is flanked by two new best friends, Lyla (Garofalo) and Phoebe (Garrett). Lyla is an attorney unhappily paying alimony to her unemployed ex husband, and Phoebe is a single former model. The show portrays all the characters, including the cheating husbands and mistresses, as complex human beings rather than as good or evil stereotypes. In this way, “Girlfriends’ Guide” creates a universe where real-life divorced women can see many of their own crises and conflicts reflected.

The average viewer might or might not relate to Abby’s body image problems. However, her and her friends’ financial struggles will likely resonate broadly; they speak to a world in which women are still paid less and offered fewer opportunities than men. The characters must still structure their lives around the needs of men, but the men in their lives are rarely interested or able to offer much in return.

Divorce is an emotional struggle, involving relearning how to rely on one’s self after taking much for granted and depending on a spouse for the fulfillment of diverse needs. “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” brings these painful but crucial issues to the screen sensitively and with a sense of humor.

If you need assistance with your case, contact our experienced Fairfax divorce attorneys today at (888) 530-4374 to schedule a consultation. We can provide compassionate, strategic help throughout the process and give you back peace of mind and the strength to rebound from your crisis.

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