The power Rachel and Quinn have over their show is a harsh microcosm of how “empowerment” can be glossy and circumscribed. In a lot of ways, Rachel and especially Quinn are themselves Representation™, as ostensibly high-powered female producers. But they’re limited from both above and below. Quinn has to hold the show hostage during the finale in order to have execs treat her with the same respect they unquestioningly show Chett, who only is where he is because he steals Quinn’s ideas and undermines her confidence.
Moreover, both Quinn and Rachel have this powerful, series-defining bond where Quinn mentors/mothers Rachel and Rachel "looks up to" Quinn- but in a lot of ways, they both look around for a man to define their place in the world. In the series finale, they exchange "love yous" as they sip champagne and survey the world that they "control". However, Rachel got to that place because both of her boyfriend escape hatches dumped her, foiling her attempts to stick up her middle finger at Quinn and leave her once and for all. Just a few eps ago, Quinn was all googly eyed over Chett and couldn't give a fig what Chett did to her because Quinn was looking at being the boss's wife which would render Rachel the more lower-status help and emphatically, never the partner.
The ironic thing is that Quinn and Rachel really are the more natural candidates for a hard-core alliance and bond since they're so similar and their career interests are (currently) aligned. However, predictably, they'll both look around for a more powerful man to be their sun and stars and when that falls through, they'll pretend to prioritize the bond between career women even though it really feels like they were rejected by the people that really matter- men, preferably high-status men. It's not even just about financial status- Adam and Chett had that but Jeremy didn't. It's also about the fact that Quinn and Rachel, deep down,. know that society judges them as an evil coven of hags but having a guy who loves them will be the deciding factor on whether they're lovable and whether their loveablness is obvious enough that they have more power to do what they want.
Rachel, in particular, is concerned with this. She sees the writing on the wall. Quinn is powerful- but everyone has her number and that's partly because she's the mistress spinster. Shia looks like a candidate for bitter spinsterhood because she's obviously not nice and she's not even cute. Rachel has likability mileage because she's young- hence the floppy body language, college-like vocal fry, whispery "friend" declarations to the contestants. However, as a sharp woman studies major, Rachel is more aware that this well runs dry more than anyone.
I feel in some ways like it's the no-muggleborn-Slytherin kind of thing? People who have good power player instincts are going to be better at stacking the odds for themselves. You know? A savvy, ambitious kid isn't going to want to have to status-jockey with a bunch of rich, racist roommates, so they're going to ask to be sent elsewhere. Women like Rachel and Quinn, who are especially good at understanding how people operate and seem like they should be more equipped to climb the ladder independently, understand far better than most people how much of an asset male approval is and how much of a liability it is to try and live without it, so they're going to be that much more invested in impressing men like Chett and Adam. If anything, Rachel's academic understanding of The Patriarchy exacerbates this tendency, because she's that much more aware of how fucked she is if she doesn't get their approval.
The power Rachel and Quinn have over their show is a harsh microcosm of how “empowerment” can be glossy and circumscribed. In a lot of ways, Rachel and especially Quinn are themselves Representation™, as ostensibly high-powered female producers. But they’re limited from both above and below. Quinn has to hold the show hostage during the finale in order to have execs treat her with the same respect they unquestioningly show Chett, who only is where he is because he steals Quinn’s ideas and undermines her confidence.
Moreover, both Quinn and Rachel have this powerful, series-defining bond where Quinn mentors/mothers Rachel and Rachel "looks up to" Quinn- but in a lot of ways, they both look around for a man to define their place in the world. In the series finale, they exchange "love yous" as they sip champagne and survey the world that they "control". However, Rachel got to that place because both of her boyfriend escape hatches dumped her, foiling her attempts to stick up her middle finger at Quinn and leave her once and for all. Just a few eps ago, Quinn was all googly eyed over Chett and couldn't give a fig what Chett did to her because Quinn was looking at being the boss's wife which would render Rachel the more lower-status help and emphatically, never the partner.
The ironic thing is that Quinn and Rachel really are the more natural candidates for a hard-core alliance and bond since they're so similar and their career interests are (currently) aligned. However, predictably, they'll both look around for a more powerful man to be their sun and stars and when that falls through, they'll pretend to prioritize the bond between career women even though it really feels like they were rejected by the people that really matter- men, preferably high-status men. It's not even just about financial status- Adam and Chett had that but Jeremy didn't. It's also about the fact that Quinn and Rachel, deep down,. know that society judges them as an evil coven of hags but having a guy who loves them will be the deciding factor on whether they're lovable and whether their loveablness is obvious enough that they have more power to do what they want.
Rachel, in particular, is concerned with this. She sees the writing on the wall. Quinn is powerful- but everyone has her number and that's partly because she's the mistress spinster. Shia looks like a candidate for bitter spinsterhood because she's obviously not nice and she's not even cute. Rachel has likability mileage because she's young- hence the floppy body language, college-like vocal fry, whispery "friend" declarations to the contestants. However, as a sharp woman studies major, Rachel is more aware that this well runs dry more than anyone.
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