Thank goodness the woman-child is a common character in modern film. Because without this weird, kind of awkward, and a bit inappropriate character, I wouldn’t relate to (or find humor in) many female roles.

Recently, the Huffington Post published an in-depth piece exploring the woman-child. The woman-child is a female who doesn’t really have her shit together, and doesn’t really care. She may be out of work, in a “in-between” job, or she may be crashing in a family member’s basement. Often times, she parties a bunch and is a bit, well, unreliable.

So, why is the woman-child a valid think-piece? Because until recently, this character has often been male. We all know the man-child quite well. These are the roles that are often filled by Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and Seth Rogan. Now, people looove the man-child. That’s why this character has been used over and over again in film. But the woman-child? She’s had a harder time garnering a big audience.

The Huffington Post got Paul Feig, big-time woman-child supporter and film director, to comment on one of his popular woman-child characters.

“‘Audiences who are not as used to it need something to root for with a groundless female character,” said ‘Bridesmaids’ director Paul Feig. ‘We found that a bit of a challenge — how do we get people to stay invested in [Annie]?

Classically, male characters have been able to get away with that more in the past,’ he said. ‘There’s this weird thing ingrained in our culture that it’s no fun to watch a woman out of control. You know, versus with a guy out of control, where the idea is that’s just what they do.'”

Ah, how true. Also true: Women IRL have a harder time going through rough periods in their lives. Women: Just like men, but different, because we’re women (and society has a big issue with that).

Now, I’m betting a large portion of our readership kind of digs the woman-child. So, here are a few films you can check out that feature the oh-so unlovable woman-child:

“Bridesmaids”

“Obvious Child”

“Frances Ha”

“Happy Christmas”

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