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Are feminist TV characters a thing of the past?Television feminists have it rough. At least, what’s left of them. This week, Jezebel.com made a list of 20 feminist TV characters from over the years, and, as it turns out, most are portrayed as nerdy, socially awkward or annoying — and many don’t even exist anymore. At the top of the list is a character TV execs wouldn’t dream of having around these days: Maude Findlay. Maude, played by Bea Arthur (we miss you, Bea!) was a pro-choice, Democratic voting “political activist who advocated for gender and racial equality” — a role Bea pulled of perfectly.
Next on Jezebel’s list was Married With Children’s Marcy D’Arcy, played by out lesbian Amanda Bearse. My mother and I always adored Marcy when I watched the show growing up (though I always appreciated Peggy Bundy's leopard print ensembles and Bon Bon addiction). Marcy wasn’t afraid to tell Al Bundy he was a scumbag, and even started a feminist group: FANG (Feminists Against Neanderthal Guys).
The funny thing about Jezebel’s list is that it highlights how progressive some mainstream shows were back in the '70s and '80s — shows I couldn’t imagine making it these days: During the late '80s and early '90s, Monday nights on CBS featured an hour-long block of feminist comedy with Murphy Brown and Designing Women airing back-to-back. More feminists from the TV archives include the possibly gay Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo, The Wonder Years’ Karen Arnold, Family Ties’ Elyse Keaton, 90210’s Andrea Zuckerman, Saved By The Bell’s Jessie Spano (ugh) and, of course, Roseanne Conner, who may not have participated in any rallies, but showed how many struggling, lower middle class families have more things to worry about than the latest designer clothes or who the woman next door is sleeping with.
While The King of Queens or Desperate Housewives will never have what Roseanne did, I suppose we shouldn’t get too down on more recent television feminists. The list mentions my current TV fave Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon as well as Lisa Simpson, Mariska Hargita’s Detective Benson (swoon) and Sex and the City’s Miranda Hobbes, played by out lesbian Cynthia Nixon.
Janice Soprano Baccalieri from The Sopranos, Femme Fatale from the Powerpuff Girls, Gilmore Girls’ Rory Gilmore and That 70’s Show’s Midge Pinciotti rounded out Jezebel’s list, but we can think of a few more:
Grace Under Fire’s Grace Kelly was a single mother who left an abusive relationship and worked on pipelines at the local oil refinery. Several of the Buffy and the Vampire Slayer characters certainly had feminist qualities. (Buffy? Willow? Tara?)
And Detective Kima Greggs from The Wire. She’s a good cop, a lesbian, took a bullet and goes back for more.
One problem Jezebel acknowledged was the lack of minority feminist characters, with many of the openly feminist characters being upper middle class white women, but that is also likely rooted in stereotypes. The list is a combination of women who come out as feminists, but also just strong, independent characters. While back in the day these ladies had to shout their feminist beliefs from the rooftops, is it safe to say that today these characters just exist in television shows without the need to do that — their actions speaking louder than a FANG T-shirt? Who are your favorite television feminists? Submitted by on June 4, 2009 - 4:00pm. |
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Alex Cabot (swoon), Bette
Bette was such an obvious
Ohh, Alex Cabot.
Ohh, Alex Cabot. mmmmm
*swoon*
"Sometimes when i get homesick i hum the mr softee song"
"I’m not saying we’re not...I’m not saying we’re not in love."
feminist or strong female characters
I will add some of mine:
1) Lindsay Boxer from "Women's Murder Club" - stron, indepenent policewoman who could carry a weapon, as well as make hot sex.
2) Veronica Mars & Mac - I would say both feminist. down-to-earth and with abilities to rescue themselves (mostly) without man's help. Or, coincidentally, helping man out of trouble!
3) Veronica from "Better off Ted" - you have to watch the show to fully get it.
4) Jordan McDeere from "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" - loved her for independence, especially when pregnant, knowledge and powerful job.
I'm sure I doul even post more but I need to think about it. Great topic to think about!
Excuse me?
Jessie was the reason I wanted get "so excited!" (don't do drugs kids, or abuse the legal ones!)
Oh I laugh everytime I think of that scene.
Pfft. Bette Porter!!!!!! ^_^
Word...
brackishtea - 'I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so so SCARED' Caffeine pills are very addictive. Don't forget that.
Double word on the Veronica Mars - at least IMO.
I remember
" True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united" ~ Wilhelm von Humbolt
Laura Holt
Laura Holt from Remington Steele is my current favourite archive feminist (well, has been for some time :P ). Sure, she was very glamorous, and ran around in high heels, but while she reluctantly acknowledged society's bias against strong women, she constantly fought the notion that gender would have any impact on her capabilities, and the show also never portrayed her as anything less than equally capable as any other human being, and did so without making any kind of deal about it.
Also, Xena anyone?
But I'll have to disagree with Lindsay Boxer, who was mentioned above. Sure, she was a kick-ass cop, but that business with her getting all bent out of shape over that thing with her ex-now-her-boss really bothered me. They portrayed it in such a stereotypically "girly" way (apologies for the gender-biased word, but the language kinda lacks a more proper description) and used her awkwardness for comic relief which just kept disappointing me.
I LOVE you for mentioning
I LOVE you for mentioning Laura Holt! She was a great, though constantly thwarted feminist and I had a huge crush on her when I was a kid.
I think there's a big difference between a strong woman character and a feminist character, though. On Xena the main feminists were the Amazons, particularly Ephiny.
:)
I love Laura a whole lot. I was 10 years old, and I had no idea what being gay was, but I did know that she was the coolest, prettiest, and most amazing woman I had ever seen, and I couldn't stop thinking about her.
I agree that there is a difference between a strong woman character and a feminist one, but I still think Xena counts. To me, at the heart of feminism is the concept that people are people regardless of their biology. Xena is not just a strong woman character, she's a strong character, and even if she's not often actively a feminist in words, she is one in actions by consistently treating people equally. If a person needs help, she helps them, and if someone needs to have their ass kicked, she'll do that as well.
(There's also that beauty pageant episode, where she does go around and actively convince all the other contestants that they are just as capable without their sponsors.)
But you're right, the Amazons are much more actively feminist.
Yes, that beauty pageant
Xena warrior princess
such a feminist. i had a Xena doll that rode in my tonka truck lol
90 people get the swine flu, everyone wears masks; Millions of people get AIDs, no one wears rubbers.
Scrolling Through: The comedian actress on Grace Under Fire
I can't believe you picked that show. I use to watch GUF and then I heard about the actress being an alcoholic (former) and a homophobe.
Geez.
Never mind
Also, the parents of the
Also, the parents of the actor who played the young Quinton (Jon Paul Stauer) pulled him out of the show because she was reportedly sexually harassing him.
On a not so related note, a few months ago I saw rerun of an episode where she and her date ended up at a gay sports bar unknowingly. Her date couldn't believe that they were in a gay bar because none of the patrons were effeminate but Grace told him off and let him know that gay people come in all shapes. They ran into her father (or step father?) there and she encourage him to come out. I'm not doing a very good job retelling the episode but anyway, I thought it was well done and was especially surprised that it aired in the mid-90s.
Some more...
Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh (Jill Hennessey, Crossing Jordan)
Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel, Bones)
Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin, Bones)
Patty Hewes (Glenn Close, Damages)
Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne, Damages)
Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk, Being Erica - Canadian series)
Veronica (Portia de Rossi, Better off Ted)
Lucile Bluth (Jessica Walter, Arrested Development)
Lindsay Bluth Fuenke (Portia de Rossi, Arrested Development)
Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow, Friends)
DCI Carol Jordan (Hermione Norris, Wire in the Blood - English series)
DCI Alex Fielding (Simone Lahbib, Wire in the Blood - English series)
The women of Corner Gas (Canadian series)
The women of The L Word
The women of Mistresses (well, sort of...) (English series)
EDIT: Oh, how could I forget! The women of Bad Girls (English series)
I definitely agree about
I definitely agree about Bones. How did they leave her off the list? She is the epitome of a strong, independent woman. Plus almost every episode includes her kicking the sh*t out of some guy.
I can't believe I forgot
I can't believe I forgot Veronia Mars. KBell is my hero and her character is my fave ever.
Also, had no idea about the actress who played Grace was craze--but we are just talking about the characters. Still, prob wouldn't have mentioned her had I known.
Sailormoon
Sailormoon handsdown.
Sailor Uranus and Neptune.. (*giggle & sighs*)
The ones left out were...
I LOVE that Mariska Hargitay was on :)
Who I think should have been on the list are:
Kathryn Morris-Playing Lilly Rush on Cold Case
Stockard Channing-Playing 1st Lady Abby Barlett on The West Wing
Jennifer Beals-Playing Bette Porter on The L Word ( ;D )
Both Stephanie March and Diane Neal who play Alex Cabot and Casey Novak on SVU.
:)
Lilly and Kat
Lilly is supposed to be the first female homicide detective in Philly, and presumably Kat is the second (and the first woman of color). I would say Kat is more of an out-and-proud feminist though - she's called the guys out a few times about it and it's awesome.
I would definitely agree with Abby Bartlett too.
Also I think her name was Maggie Doyle, on early ER seasons (played by Jorja Fox) - she was a lesbian and feminist and did actually talk about it, like these other ones.
How about Clair Huxtable? She was a female professional (I want to say a lawyer?) and still an awesome mom.
Bailey on Grey's Anatomy is such a strong woman, they were shocked to find out that "the Nazi" WAS a woman in the first ep.
Nerd Alert!
You're not the only nerd...
Yeah thank god for that
I LOVED Captain Janeway! I
I LOVED Captain Janeway! I was about to suggest her before i read this haha
and can i say Seven of Nine? she was awesome.
7 of 9
Emily Prentiss of Criminal Minds
yes yes and yes
Veronica Mars!
Why does everybody hate
Why does everybody hate Jessie Spano so much? OK, so Elizabeth Berkley isn't what you would call a consummate actress, but when I was thirteen, the character had a profound effect on me. I'm not going to type out everything that I already said in another thread about Berkley-hatred, but whatever you think of Elizabeth Berkley's acting abilities, the character was, on the whole, quite a good role model for young girls, especially because she had numerous flaws that made her human.
Clarification
Ok - I didn't hate Jessie Spano, but the episode where she got hooked on caffeine pills was hilarious. That show was awesomely horrible and I can practically quote every episode line for line. That's probably TMI. :)
Yeah... look, yeah...
Hmmm...
While I think it's great
While I think it's great that we do have so many strong, female characters on TV these days, I think we still need characters like Maude and Marcy D'Arcy who aren't afraid to use the 'F' word. A lot of people are under the mistaken impression that feminism "worked" and we don't need it anymore because women have achieved some liberties. However, we are still far from equality, and we need figures in popular culture to remind us of that fact.
Regarding Buffy, I think you phrased it correctly that she "has feminist qualities." I don't think I could ever consider her to be a feminist. She too often felt like she had to have a boyfriend and needed or wanted to change herself to get and keep that boyfriend. She also was often really oblivious to her privilege. I would consider Willow and definitely Tara to be feminists.
Veronica Mars definitely belongs on that list as well as Brennan from Bones. And I thought Casey Shraeger on The Unusuals was a pretty feminist character. For example, in the pilot another male cop calls Casey "sweetie" (or something similar) to which she replies, "'Sweetie'? That's what you're going with? Bold."
Olivia friggin Spencer
Dudes. Olivia Spencer from Guiding Light! She's a business woman (owns a hotel chain among other things) and a single-mom with a no-holds-barred attitude, and a tough streak that hides her super-sensitive side. Yet she's confident enough to know when she's in love with someone, doesn't matter who they are, she's in love. And these days, she has no problem being in love with a woman.
Also, most of the lady ADA's from Law & Order,
Allison Janney (CJ) Ainsley Hayes and from the West Wing
Annnnnd quite a few others who I can't think of.
OMG
Olivia friggin spencer!!! you are so right!
that woman is gold! she is by and far the strongest feminist character on TV! cool we are watching her come out... on daytime TV that is big in itself.
The detective in The Wire
was sexy and she did not feed into the stereotypes with her lesbian African American character. well written role and too bad the show does not come on anymore.
90 people get the swine flu, everyone wears masks; Millions of people get AIDs, no one wears rubbers.
Does Queen Latifah count?
When she was on Living Single she played Khadijah James owner/publicist of her own magazine called Flavor. Phenomenal show and she would have uplifting songs and videos at the end of episodes. Like the episode where the guy called Regine(Kim Fields) a bitch. She made UNITY(amazing song).
90 people get the swine flu, everyone wears masks; Millions of people get AIDs, no one wears rubbers.
I agree
I was thinking Queen Latifah as well. I also have to add Erika Alexander's character Maxine Shaw into it from Living Single, she was a sharp lawyer who could throw down with the big boys and didn't take any crap from anyone. She was brilliant and sexy. I loved loved loved the show but it would have been so much better if Khadijah and Maxine would have just realized they loved each other and made a happy life together!!
I also have to stand up for one miss Jessie Spano. I too can recite almost every line from every episode, acting abilities aside, the show and the characters made teenage life a little easier to deal with. Caffine addiction ep was one of my favs. Did you all see EB on Chelsea Lately recently? She re-enacted that scene. It was AWESOME!!
Erika Alexander
Everything I seen her in besides the Cosby Show she has played this feminist character. She had her own show on Showtime I think and she did appearances on Law and Order as the strong black woman standing up for injustices.
90 people get the swine flu, everyone wears masks; Millions of people get AIDs, no one wears rubbers.
Peggy from Mad Men
Now that I read the list..
Ellen Degeneres when she had her own show...I miss that...
Mandana Jones as Nikki Wade in Bad Girls (UK)...what a show that was...honorable mention to the incredibly incredible Simone Lahbib in that show as well playing sizzling Helen Stewart, who got a backbone in the end...
Finally and Absolutely Crystal Chappell playin Olivia (swoon) Spencer...goes without saying...melt melt...
--------------
~~I used to be sane....but I got better.~~
~~Chappelled to Perfection~~
is it lack of feminist characters
on tv these days or did the picture change indeed?
as necessary it might have been in the 80ies to set signs by not fulfilling heteronormative cliches in looks and behaviour, it might not be the standard today, as feminist women in tv and offscreen have and take the freedom not only to do what they want, but also to look like they want - and if that means lipstick and high heels so it be, because for sure not every woman wearing heels is imprisoned in a male-dominated image-cluster.
so maybe we should expand the list of today's feminist characters by those, who really don't give a damn about roles and looks and dress however they like?
Abby Scuito,Ziva David,
Abby Scuito,Ziva David, Caitlyn Todd, Jenny Shepard, Paula Cassidy et al-NCIS. Making the list made me realize how very good the show is in creating feminist characters.
Teyla Emmagen and Elizabeth Weir-Stargate Atlantis
...
Wonder Woman!!!!!
Mariska Hargitay , Alex
Mariska Hargitay , Alex Cabot & Bette..
these women make my mind -------- ,ohhh, i donno ** lets say Explode 4 now**
i also loved Willow , Abby Sciuto & Casey Novak..
OK, enough now!! my list can go on & on & on, so i`ll finish it right her...
how gorgeous all these women are?!! (siiiiiiigh)
You forgot...
Gwen from Torchwood; Rose, Donna, and Martha from Doctor Who; Cam from Bones; Lois Lane from Smallville (I know don't look at me like that); The wives from The Unit (some of those chicks were badass); and Mrs. Pettrelli from Heroes (she ran and developed the company based on her ideals of saving extraordinary people from those who would not truly understand them and would want to hurt them).
Sci Fi friendly
Let's not forget Aeryn Sunn from Australia's Farscape played by Claudia Black. Black later played Vala Ma Doran on Stargate SG-1. She kicked ass in both roles.
Also, Amanda Tapping of Stargate SG-1 and Sanctuary as well as Teryl Rothery, Emilie Ullerup of the same shows, respectively. Also, Max and Original Cindy from Dark Angel.
The science fiction genre has always backed the feminist play.