Gods Save Us from 'Spunky' Women

Those of us old enough to remember the 70's would have to agree, female TV characters have changed a lot, both in character and in personality. Gone are the females who are primarily housekeepers, housewives or secretaries. Gone are the personalities who are primarily submissive, perky and motherly. One might be tempted to think this means feminism has come to the small screen and that sexism in the portrayal of women is a thing of the past.

A recent study conducted at Ohio University collected data on the primary and secondary roles of characters from more than 300 different episodes of a variety of shows from the past 50 years. And they found that in nearly two-thirds of these situations, the primary roles of female characters were still mothers, wives, and daughters, or some combination. When their primary role was professional, females were disproportionately in communications, entertainment, and hospitality fields. There are plenty of waitresses, journalists, and nurses, but few lawyers or doctors.

Characters whose secondary roles were professional had more varied and prestigious jobs; however, those were limited, taking a back seat to matriarchal roles. For instance, on The Cosby Show, we see Dr. Huxtable at work at his medical office, and yet we never see Clair, the lawyer, outside their home. You'd think that with two working parents, the household responsibilities of parenting, cooking, and cleaning would be shared, but instead they're still left to the woman.

In the 1970s, when female activists demanded equal opportunities, reproductive rights, and egalitarian partnerships, TV had Mary Richards, a single working woman making a place for herself in life. On "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," she was a woman in a man's world going head to head with her boss Lou Grant, demanding equal pay. Unlike her best friend Rhoda, she wasn't hung up about marriage. Instead she found satisfaction in a makeshift family at WJM-TV. More recently, TV gave us Rachel Green on "Friends." As a new mother she makes the choice to remain single, but decides to move in with Ross, her friend and father of her baby. She feels the pressure of competition in her job at Ralph Lauren after taking several weeks maternity leave and is forced to juggle her roles as career woman and mom.

Today's feminist movement is less unified. Like the character of Rachel, women today are struggling with private issues rather than public ones. Third Wave Feminism is about individuals and their personal choices rather than career paths or job equity.

But when we compare real life women to their TV counterparts, there are large disparities. For years, TV has been presenting false images to women, telling them how they should look, act, and run their families.

The females on today's most popular shows are primarily upper-middle class and white. And after more than 50 years, the same problems and stereotypes--wives and moms held to unrealistic standards--still persist.

People generally mistake today's female characters for feminists because they are "spunky," smart and independent. They are quick-witted, sarcastic and they don't take crap off of anybody. We may remark, "She is so feisty and liberated! What a strong woman! You go girl!" But if you look at these spunky women more closely, you'll see that they don't ever actually do or say anything that indicates true liberation or threatens patriarchal institutions (or men) in any way.

Look at Meg in Disney's Hercules. She is a spunky female character who has clearly been made to look liberated just by making her a smartass. About this kind of female character, people think: "She's so independent! She sure doesn't take any crap!" But, when you actually look at her life, she's not independent at all. J.K. Rowling's Mrs. Weasley in the Harry Potter stories is another example. There are countless others.

Replacing real feminist analysis with spunky women who never actually question the power dynamics of their lives, but whose "liberation" entirely takes the form of sarcastic one-liners, is a subtle trick. A patronizing nod to feminists without really changing anything. Disney is a major offender with this one, but it is common in movies and TV everywhere. The female characters salaam to the patriarchy at every turn, but we're not supposed to notice because they're so busy slinging sardonic quips to indicate how free and intelligent they are. They're spunky and fiesty, but still safe because they never actually offend anyone or cause the viewer to question anything, including her own life.

Laura Kramer, a Women's Studies professor, initiated a discussion at WMST-L seeking to replace Murphy Brown with more contemporary examples of popular TV characters who are unselfconsciously feminist. Here are some of the answers she got. I will comment on those I am familiar with.

Maxine Gray, Amy, Donna and Jillian from "Judging Amy"

Ellen DeGeneres--Here is a "real" feminist, in my opinion. She's not only spunky, she shakes things up.There's a line of what is acceptable and what isn't on television because TV in America is a conservative medium that seeks not to offend. When Ellen came out on her show, she pushed that line.

Sydney Bristow from "Alias"

Abby Bartlet, the First Lady, and CJ, the White House Press Secretary on "The West Wing"

Dr. Samantha Carter on "Stargate SG-1"

"Carla" on NBC's "Scrubs"--I haven't seen this, but she sounds like the perfect example of a "spunky" female, as she's described as a Latina nurse who's outspoken, takes no guff, is strong and also caring.

Buffy the Vampire Killer

The Three Sisters from "Charmed" - This one I have seen and I'm not sure I see "strong feminist role model" in these chicks.

Eliot, Olivia's partner on "Law and Order SVU" Is he an example of a male feminist? Also Det. Olivia Benson from this show.

Donna on "That 70s Show" - Donna is interesting because her mother is a self-proclaimed feminist who doesn't seem to understand feminism, while Donna doesn't call herself a feminist but is.

Carrie on ER

Miranda on "Sex and the City"

Kim Possible--What a pleasant change from the old sexist cartoon characters (like Daphne in "Scooby Doo").

Camryn on "The Practice"--The actress has publicly advocated against body-size discrimination (and coincidentally is the niece of former UVA Women's Studies Program director, Ann Lane).