WOMEN IN TELEVISION:
A Look Back at the
Last 7 Decades of Female Lead Shows
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| Lucille Ball |
I LOVE LUCY
Number of Female Writers on I Love Lucy: 1
Number of Female Writers on I Love Lucy: 1
Ways in which I Love Lucy was Progressive:
-Lucille ball was not only the star of her show, but she co-owned
the production company with her husband, which produced her show along with
many others. As a part of their production deal, Lucy and her husband purchased
all of the footage and distribution rights to the show, and were able to sell
the series into syndication. This essentially led to the invention of
syndicated reruns; another way in which Lucille Ball changed the television
landscape. After the couple divorced she bought out her husband to become the
first female head of a major production company, and the company flourished
with her at the helm.
-When I Love Lucy was first being produced Lucille Ball made the
request to the network that her real life husband Desi Arnaz play her onscreen
fictional husband Ricky Ricardo. The network pushed back and refused her
request; this was due to the fact that the network’s sponsor, Philip Morris
cigarettes, did not believe that the American public would accept a
“red-blooded American girl” being married to the Cuban born Desi Arnaz. Since
the advertising sponsors control much of the creative content, another American
actor was lined up to play Lucy’s husband. The network did not agree to bring
Desi on until Lucille Ball gave the ultimatum that she would not do the show
unless Desi played her husband. Airing in 1951, I Love Lucy was the first
television show to depict a multi-ethnic couple. What was even more
groundbreaking at the time was the fact that Ricardo’s ethnicity was a focal
point in the show; they did not Americanize the character and he maintained a
heavy accent and made ongoing references to his Cuban heritage.
Another way in which I Love Lucy was progressive for its time
was the female friendship between Lucy and Ethel. The relationship was one of
mutual respect and support during a period when positive female friendships
were rarely depicted. Most female relationships depicted at the time were ones
of a competitive nature, either over the attentions of men or social standing-typically
pitting women against each other. Lucy and Ethel’s friendship broke the mold
and continually received screen time throughout the series.
I Love Lucy was one of the earliest shows to depict a pregnancy
storyline, though due to the conservative nature of the time the actual word
“pregnancy or pregnant” was not allowed to be used because the network deemed
it “too vulgar”. As a result of these strict television standards, Lucy is downplaying
the pain of labor throughout the entire episode-no pained facial expressions or
cries/moans were ever exhibited and there was no actual footage in the labor
room, but the existence of the storyline itself was still groundbreaking. So
groundbreaking in fact, that when it aired the day before President
Eisenhower’s inauguration it drew significantly more viewers.
Ways in which I Love Lucy was Problematic:
Throughout the show scenarios are depicted in which Lucy gets
herself into some type of trouble and needs to be saved by her husband Ricky.
In addition to this, the couples frequently fall into the stereotypical sexist
husband-wife tropes. In the season two premiere, Lucy and Ricky get into an
argument over Lucy’s spending. As Lucy is being scolded, she answers to Ricky
“Yes Sir” or “No Sir”, and he further infantilizes her by referring to the
money he lets her spend as an “allowance”. He brings Fred and Ethel into the
situation and finds that Ethel has a similar spending problem. The men tell the
women how hard it is to go out and earn a living in an attempt to lecture them
about spending, while the woman argue that it is equally difficult to run a
household. To prove each other wrong, the couples decide to switch their
classic roles for a week, with the women going and getting jobs at a candy
factory and the men tending to the homes. While the men equally fail at
performing housework, the women fail miserably at performing simple tasks at
their new workplace. This failure on the women’s part brings much physical
comedy to the show, but does a large disservice to the perception of women’s
competence in the workplace.
Even though I Love Lucy made strides by depicting a multi-ethnic
couple on screen, they still had several instances of racist content in the
show. For instance, one of the acts at Ricky’s music club required he wear
black face and a wig in order to mimic an African drum circle with the band.
Black face is extremely racist and offensive, but was often depicted on
television in the 1950’s on popular shows such as Amos & Andy.
While I Love Lucy was groundbreaking in many was in front of and
behind the camera, it was still a product of its time. Though it was not a
feminist show in almost all respects, it laid the groundwork for more
progressive female led shows in the future.
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| Julia and her son Corey |
JULIA
Number of
female writers: 5
Ways in which Julia was Progressive:
Julia was a
sitcom that premiered in 1968, making its star Diahann Carroll the first
African American woman to star on a Television series, and doing so in a non-stereotypical
role of a house worker or nanny. After the first season, Carroll took home the
Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Comedy Role.
The character
of Julia depicted a widowed young nurse raising her son in a successful upper middle
class environment and nice suburban home. Julia was a woman with a college degree
thriving in a professional white-collar role despite being the only breadwinner
for her family.
The show
championed its title character through a gendered lens as a successful young
professional balancing work and motherhood, much more so than a racial lens. In
an episode entitle “The Gender Trap”, Julia explores issues of the women’s
liberation movement. The show’s start Diahann Carroll spoke of the show’s
impact in a feminist sense: “ There was nothing like this young successful
mother on the air, and we thought that it might be a very good stepping stone”
The writers of the show would make very vague
references to the personal toll that racial prejudice takes, doing so in a storyline
with Julia’s young son Corey and his best friend. In this storyline the two
young boys participate in a heated argument about whether Santa Clause is black
or white. The show mostly dealt with themes of racism through very tame and
inconsequential narratives such as this one.
Ways in which Julia was Problematic:
Even though
Julia aired during the very turbulent 1960’s, there was no mention of the civil
rights-era movement or any African American Activism at the time. Many viewers
and critics felt that African Americans had very little screen-time on network
shows during this period, and therefore they should be taking on a role of
social activism in what time they did have. When one-third of African Americans
were living below the poverty line, viewers felt the depiction of an affluent
professional African American woman downplayed the struggle of racial
prejudice. Many felt that the show depicted a sanitized, white-washed view of
African American life, ignoring the true experience and painting integration as
a smooth transition.
Due to the
intense targeted criticism, the show’s star Diahann Carroll was sent to the
hospital multiple times with stress-related illnesses. Though she acknowledged
that there was no real racial dialogue on tv at the time, or on her show in
particular, she still maintained that her very presence on a network show was
an important stepping stone in the history of television. With mostly white
male producers and writers, the show can only be as progressive as the time and
network it exists in.
 |
| Mary Richards |
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW
Number of
Female Writers: 25 (out of 75 total)
Ways in which The Mary Tyler Moore Show
was Progressive:
The Mary Tyler
Moore show, which premiered in 1970, was considered another pioneering show
featuring a woman at the helm. As shows such as Julia had done before, Mary
Tyler Moore was progressive in that it depicted a successful young career woman
during a time when most of the women depicted on television were housewives.
One way in which the Mary Tyler Moore show truly broke the mold was that it’s
main character, Mary Richards, was a 30 year old single woman who was career
focused. Not only did she work as a television producer, but her office life
was one of the main focuses of the show. We got to actually see Mary in her
professional setting interacting with coworkers.
It was after
the second season that Mary’s character really began to develop and hit her
stride. The storyline for the season three premiere involves Mary learning that
the man who previously held her job earned a higher salary than she was
currently receiving. The gender wage gap was not something that was openly
discussed on network television-not only was it discussed, but Mary stood up
for herself by demanding and eventually receiving a raise.
Though the
subject of sex is always discussed in a less than obvious manner, the show
definitely depicts Mary as having a sex life. One example of this takes place
in season three and shows Mary staying out all night and returning to her
apartment the next morning in the same clothing. Birth control is also casually
mentioned on the show, but not in any explicit terms.
The show also
had story lines which casually discussed homosexuality. In a season three
episode, Mary’s friend Phyllis tries to set her up with her brother. A little
later in the episode a friend announces that Phyllis’ brother is gay. Though
there is no further exploration of homosexuality or the character in any way,
it was one of the first times the word “gay” was even used on network
television.
The most
progressive element of the show took place behind the scenes, with 1/3rd
of the writer’s room being comprised of women; a ratio unheard of at the time.
Ways in which The Mary Tyler Moore Show
was Problematic:
In the first
season of the show, Mary has much more of a focus on marriage than later
seasons. In the first episode she has moved and is trying to get a job as a
result of her boyfriend of two years refusing to Mary her.
She goes into
the Minneapolis newsroom to apply for a secretarial job, and only stumbles into
the role of associate producer because her male boss is drunk during the
interview.
The show was
never touted as being specifically feminist and drew negative attention of
female activist Gloria Steinem, who took issue with the fact that Mary
continued to subserviently refer to her boss as “Mr. Grant”, while she
continued to be referred to by her first name.
 |
| One of few shows were every female lead won for their performance |
THE GOLDEN GIRLS
Number of
Female Writers: 13
Ways in which The Golden Girls was
Progressive:
The premiere of
The Golden Girls in 1985 was the start of a truly groundbreaking concept on
network television. In an industry and time that truly was (and is) obsessed
with youth, this show depicted the lives of four single retirement-aged women
living together. This progressive element of age was the very foundation of the
show, and something that had never been seen before.
The show
depicted these women as having a life after marriage: three of the women being
widowed and one divorced. It shows the true depth of female camaraderie and
companionship that doesn’t require male relationships.
Another
groundbreaking aspect of the show was that it depicted women of a certain age
as sexual beings, a concept that was unheard of at the time. A large part of
the show was built around the dating failures and triumphs of these four women,
when most female characters their age were only being depicted as grandmothers
or old maids. The show’s writer and producer was quoted in the New York Times
reflecting on these exceptional characters: “Television is always several steps
behind life. When do you see passionate older people on television? There is
life after 50. People can be attractive, energetic, have romances. When do you
see people of this age in bed together? On this show you will. It’s kind of
pathetic that this show is television’s baby steps.”
Not only is
their very presence on TV an important narrative on ageing, but the characters
themselves face ageism from many directions; from prospective employers to
their own children.
The Golden
Girls not only explored the issue of Age in this country, but several other
social issues of the time. Twenty-Four years before the Supreme Court ruled on
marriage equality, The Golden Girls explored and defended same sex marriage in
one of their episodes. The women on the show even go on to discuss the false
stigma surrounding the ongoing AIDS crisis at the time.
Ways in which The Golden Girls is
Problematic:
Though the
women are always supportive of one another, they do seem to constantly put each
other down, though that is generally part of the comedic DNA of most network
shows centered around friendship. And most of these superficial quips aren’t
damaging to the strong relationships shared between the women.
The women have
been harshly criticized as falling under general female stereotypes; Dorothy as
the humorless shrew, Blanche as the oversexed vamp, Rose as the dumb blonde,
and Sophia as the overinvolved mother figure. Though these original characters seem
to transcend this and hold more power than the female stereotypes they seem to
fall under.
 |
| Ellen |
ELLEN
Number of
Female Writers on Ellen: 17
Ways in which Ellen was Progressive:
Ellen, which
premiered in 1994, was a show about a 30 something bookstore employee and how
she navigated through life and her dealings with friends and overbearing
parents. The show was essentially a vehicle for star Ellen Degeneres’ comedy
and was successful for many seasons. The show was unique in that it didn’t
focus on her romantic relationships, but rather her friendships and family. It
wasn’t until the two episode arc entitled “The Puppy Episode” during which the
main character Ellen comes out, did the show really become culturally
significant. Being the star of the show and holding a lot of creative power with
the network, Degeneres demanded that she no longer wanted to play the character
as straight.
ABC got immense
negative pressure from people inside the network, advertisers and conservative
groups who were against a title character on primetime television being openly
gay. Despite all of this, the network went ahead with the storyline in the 1997
episode. Two weeks before the episode would air, Ellen Degeneres herself came
out on the cover of Time magazine
In a
disappointing turn of events, viewers started to fall off and the show was
cancelled after the next season, though 36 million people tuned into the
pivotal episode. Many viewers and critics also speak to the fact that too much
weight and credit should not be placed on this particular TV moment alone; that
this was only one of many instances of progress that took place to begin to
shift the culture.
Ways in which Ellen was Problematic:
Despite showing
an important shift toward diversity in sexual orientation, there was very
little racial diversity on the show in its main cast. This excludes a famous
appearance by Oprah Winfrey, who plays Ellen’s therapist and encourages her to
explore her sexuality.
 |
| Betty Suarez |
UGLY
BETTY
Number of
Female Writers on Ugly Betty: 20
Ways in which Ugly Betty was
Progressive:
Ugly Betty,
which premiered in 2006, centered around the life and career of
Mexican-American Betty Suarez, as she lands a job in the harshly prejudicial
world of fashion magazine publishing. Despite harsh criticism of her appearance
and general friendly demeanor, she doesn’t submit to pressure to change her
physical appearance to meet industry standards.
Because the
Actress America Ferrera is obviously very attractive in real life, this guise
of an ‘ugly’ appearance had to be manufactured by placing glasses, braces and
un-trendy clothing on the character. And though Ferrera was skinny by normal
standards, the network was praised for putting a normal sized woman at the
center of their show.
Instead of
falling prey to the allure of the superficial world in which she worked, the
character of Betty maintained a focus on her family and career, as she
continued to aspire to one day be a writer. The show was applauded for
continuously criticizing the fashion and beauty industries, using an entire
episode to draw attention to the overuse of extreme photo-shopping perpetrated
by ads and magazines. The show also serves as a criticism to this world by its
view of it through a satirical lens.
For her role on
Ugly Betty, America Ferrera became the first Latina woman to win the Emmy for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, not to mention taking home the Golden
Globe and SAG award as well.
Ways in which Ugly Betty is
Problematic:
Many viewers
and critics have argued that even though Betty maintained her focus on family
and professional success throughout the show, her looks started to morph towards
the end of the series toward normal beauty standards. Though this
transformation seems to be minimal and the character is still recognizably
herself.
Another issue
critics had with the show was Betty’s relationship to her over-privileged
undeserving white male boss, Daniel, who inherited the leadership role from his
father. Many feel that her constant defense of him despite his poor and
sometimes reckless choices was in a way a protection of white male privilege,
and an implication that one must perpetuate this protection in order to succeed
in the world.
In terms of the
character of Daniel, it is also problematic that he is pitted as the more
favorable person whom you are supposed to cheer on to run the magazine, with his
rival being an older and more seasoned African American woman who has more
experience and expertise in the field, but is heralded as “bitchy” and power
hungry.
 |
| Olivia Pope |
SCANDAL
Number of
Female Writers on Scandal: 9
Ways
in which Scandal was Progressive:
When Scandal premiered in 2012, Kerry Washington became the
first African American actress to lead a network primetime drama in almost 40
years. The show, which was created by Shonda Rhimes, came after her success
with the drama Grey’s Anatomy, a success which garnered her enormous power with
the networks. With the enormous success of Shonda Rhimes and her shows, a real
trend toward more diversity began on the primetime networks.
The strong female character of Olivia Pope is at the top of her
field and excels in a career that deals with highly intense and stressful
scenarios. And though critics and viewers have chosen to criticize some of the
character’s personal choices, many have heralded this as an allowance for a more
flawed complex feminist character.
The show dedicated an entire episode to passionately advocate on
behalf of planned parenthood and reproductive rights, and later in the episode
we witness the main character Olivia get an abortion. The scene begins in the
waiting room of a clinic and then inside the examination room. We can hear the
procedure of the abortion taking place as the camera stays fixed on Olivia’s
face as the procedure is performed. We get to see a legal abortion as a common
medical procedure, not occurring to a confused or dysfunctional teenager,
instead to a woman who is anxious but assured in her decision. There is no
discussion of other options or expression of deep regret afterwards; it was just
through the lens of choice.
With the emergence of Shonda Rhimes and her successful family of
shows, it is clear that the key to more diversity and inclusion in television
is the prominence of women in directing, producing, and writing roles. There is
a need for women behind the camera and in positions of power at the networks in
order to fully depict a multifaceted modern woman and a full range of female
characters with real accuracy. Television should be developing female characters
that serve to represent women as a whole and serve our community in a positive
way.
This means showing flawed female characters, something that
doesn’t make them any less feminist.
REFERENCES
I
LOVE LUCY
“Sex Lies & Advertising” Gloria Steinem, Published in MS
Magazine, July/August 1990.
JULIA
MARY TYLER MOORE
THE GOLDEN GIRLS
ELLEN
UGLY BETTY
“Hunger as Ideology”, Susan Bordo, Suny Press, 1993.
SCANDAL
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