The Problematic Moments of ‘Gilmore Girls’: Rory Gilmore and Lane Kim Both Put Down Other Women Needlessly
Gilmore Girls fans return to the series year after year. The exceptional storytelling, complex interpersonal relationships, and wholesome town of Stars Hollow are often credited for the show’s staying power. While the show absolutely is mostly positive, Gilmore Girls still had some problematic moments. For example, Lane Kim and Rory Gilmore were guilty of putting down other women for no reason. We’ve collected three examples of Rory and Lane being absolutely awful to other women.
Rory Gilmore put down any woman who showed an attraction to her romantic interests, past and present
Rory Gilmore had a horrible habit of lashing out at other girls, especially those involved with her romantic interests. She was pretty terrible to Shane, Jess Mariano’s romantic interest. She was also incredibly judgemental of Lindsay Lister, despite knowing Lindsay well and considering her a nice person at one point.
When Jess started hooking up with Shane, Rory dealt with her jealousy by being downright aggressive toward the girl and calling into question her intelligence. Rory knew absolutely nothing about Shane. She also had no right to be jealous. She was dating Dean Forrester while Jess was seeing Shane.
A few seasons later, Rory grew increasingly jealous of Lindsay Lister following her marriage to Dean. She considered Lindsay lazy and demanding because Lindsay didn’t work while Dean worked multiple jobs. While the division of labor between Dean and Lindsay was an interesting side story, it was none of Rory’s business. Trash-talking her in the middle of Stars Hollow wasn’t a great way to behave. She only cared because it was an easy way to put down her romantic rival, anyway.
Lane Kim was equally terrible to women who did absolutely nothing wrong to her
Rory’s best friend, Lane Kim, was equally awful to other women, too, especially when she didn’t know how to manage her emotions. After falling for her bandmate, Zack Van Gerbig, Lane was incredibly territorial. She was easily angered by any woman that Zack showed an interest in, despite not being able to vocalize that she was interested in Zack just yet.
While Lane’s jealousy was completely understandable, her treatment of Cheryl and Trina, specifically, was not OK. After Cheryl apologized to Lane for coming into the diner with Zack, she continued to lash out. She was rude to Cheryl and later referred to her as a “dirty trollop” when speaking to Rory about what happened. Feeling jealous of a romantic rival is normal, slut-shaming them for simply existing is a problematic reaction. Cheryl was even nice to Lane. She had absolutely nothing to apologize for.
Did Lane and Rory learn their problematic behavior from Lorelai Gilmore?
You could argue that both Lane and Rory learned to disparage other women from Lorelai Gilmore herself. Lorelai did refer to a woman she imagined might have shown a passing interest in Luke as a “little slut.” She also becomes incredibly territorial when Luke dates other women, despite not expressing an actual romantic interest in him.
Lorelai was better than Lane and Rory, though. Her age most likely factored into that, as well. Lorelai, for example, didn’t talk badly about Rachel or Nicole, the only two women Luke was seriously linked to before Luke and Lorelai hooked up. She also kept her feelings about Anna Nardini, who some Gilmore Girls fans argue was involved in more problematic moments than any main character, under wraps.
