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When two dudes fight over Bridget Jones in a fountain, or when she careens ass-first down a fire pole, I think all of us single ladies can have a good chuckle and go, "Ha, I've so been there!"

So when we read about a study by the U.K.'s More magazine that found 40 percent of British 20-somethings worried their lives resembled Bridget's, Lemondrop HQ was all confused. Here in America, we don't worry about being pathetic and single women in our 30s, because we're too busy laughing at pathetic single women in their 30s!

But could we American gals be worried about growing up to be Liz Lemon the same way that women in England are terrified to grow up and have sex with Hugh Grant?

Possibly! After the recent hubbub surrounding Tina Fey on the lady Web, we had a half-hearted debate about whether Liz Lemon was, indeed, bad for single women. (Slate ventured that, as "a fabulously successful, married woman with a daughter, [Tina Fey's] obsession with the pathetic single woman is just starting to feel a little mean," while Feministe helpfully pointed out that Fey hasn't been single "since the Clinton administration.")

Being upset that Tina Fey is married and her "30 Rock" character is a lonely single is sort of like being infuriated that Steve Carell isn't actually a hapless middle manager or a Pennsylvanian. It's a show! But it also merits mentioning that Fey spent the majority of her recent appearance on SNL in sketches like Brownie Husband, where she literally replaced a spouse with baked goods. Kind of offensive, especially when you factor in the small matter of her allegedly making the move from writer's room to cast member only after she lost a bunch of weight.

Is this the reason why the 20-somethings More surveyed said the ideal age to get married was twenty-f**king-six? We know lots and lots of wonderful, normal-ish single women in their 30s who aren't obsessed with marriage or Tagalongs. So while the Bridget Jones / Liz Lemon trope is certainly alive and well in comedy, we wonder if it's a real-life phenomenon or just a comedy schtick that's getting a little shopworn.



The Backlash, in Links ...
+ Tina Fey Doesn't Own All the Funny (XX)
+ The Tina Fey Backlash (Broadsheet)
+ On Tina Fey (Shakesville)
+ Leslie Knope, Liz Lemon and the Feminist Lessons of NBC's "Parks and Recreation" (Newsweek)
+ Time to Check in With Tina Fey's Feminism! (Feministe)