This New Year's Eve, you will find me astral-projecting myself into the opulent, unfortunately fictional landscape of Lady Danbury's poker night from "Oceans Apart," a.k.a E7 S1 of Netflix's juicy-ass masterpiece, Bridgerton. I have so far found a painful lack of op-eds on the party, and so feel that it is my feminist duty to take up the mantle. For those of you who have not encountered this scene yet... minor spoilers ahead. The basic context is this: Now that Daphne (i.e. baby face) has been wed- and to the duke, no less- Lady Danbury (mama duke) invites baby face to a party she hosts regularly that is exclusive to the married women of the ton.
Baby face arrives at Danbury's estate. The men in wigs open the big wooden doors. Behold: a sweeping view of a lavish, candle-lit, boisterous party, populated EXCLUSIVELY by laughing women in gorgeous dresses. For many of them, their dresses match their jewels match their feathers.
As Daphne mingles with a poker table of carefree hotties, she is visibly out of her element. Her fellow party guests crack dirty jokes about her recent honeymoon, reveal their almost complete independence from their husbands, and altogether challenge everything Daphne had assumed about sweet and chill married life. However, in no way are these women antagonistic, nor do they necessarily act as Daphne's foils. Instead, they provide reassurance for a sweet baby face who feels lost in the marriage sauce! Afraid! Our new and very cool poker friends simply demonstrate to our girl that there are plenty of ways to thrive even in unfavorable romantic circumstances.
In short, it is a fabulous party filled with women who are CONFIDENT, KIND, WELL-DRESSED, and HAVING A FABULOUS TIME. And as I watch them from the exhausting familiarity of my couch, my core feeling is (obviously) envy. While I have no interest in going out and partying on this exact night (again, obviously), I will dedicate 2021 to manifesting this kind of lit-ass, glittery, all-lady party for my next NYE celebration. And my god, if my host doesn't greet me with "your grace, welcome to my den of iniquity"... I clearly didn't manifest hard enough. Happy 2021 bitchez!
- Helen
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