In the months and weeks leading up to the release of Netflix's Girlboss earlier this year, you couldn't escape the hype. A loose retelling of Sophia Amoruso's life and the founding of her online clothing empire Nasty Gal, the series was pitched as telling the inspiring story of a girl who gets shit done and looks damn fabulous in the process.

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Despite the fact that only days before the series finally hit the streaming service the real-life Amoruso's Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy, it didn't diminish the appetite for the show. Here was a series that detailed how a woman, against all odds, built a successful, multi-million dollar company from her San Francisco apartment.

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However, nearly immediately after the show's release, the praise came to a jarring halt. Critics and audience members said they found it hard to relate to Sophia, portrayed by Brit Robertson, because of her attitude. Reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, where the show only received a 32% rating, labelled the main character shallow, ignorant and bit of a jerk. When I discussed the show with friends, many of them saw Sophia as overly sarcastic, irresponsible and generally annoying. With so much hate directed at the show's main character, it's no wonder that Netflix decided to ditch the show from it's stellar lineup.

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But, to me, choosing to axe Girlboss was a huge mistake.

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While many people found Sophia's personality annoying, I saw it as inspiring. Here is a young woman, who ignores her critics and complaints of others, and chooses to stay true to who she is. She refuses to apologise for her behaviour because it doesn't align with how others believe she should act.

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This raises the question about whether people had a problem with her behaviour because she's a woman. If we were to look at male characters with similar personalities, such as Harvey Spector from Suits, we see a drastically different reaction. People find Harvey charming, a go-getter who will get the job done. Throughout the series, he crosses ethical and legal lines. Basically, he's a bit of a jerk.

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However, while Sophia and Harvey have a similar attitude of entitlement their characters' reception could not be further apart.. He is seen as a swaggering achiever while she's annoyingly self-involved and unrelatable. Women on TV are, by and large, pleasant, men aren't constricted by these expectations.

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So while people may not have appreciated Sophia's attitude, cancelling Girlboss has taken one more role model off TV screens. We've lost the defiant voice who told women you don't have to please anyone but yourself.