Sisters Doing It For Themselves*

This past Tuesday night, our tv roster became a bit quieter (and rather a lot sadder) as we bid adieu to both Parks and Recreation and Agent Carter.  Parks has been one of my favorite shows since it premiered a few years back, and although Agent Carter’s run was brief, I really enjoyed watching all eight episodes, and I hope it comes back for subsequent seasons.  In addition to closing out their seasons/series on the same night, I wanted to write about these shows together as both center around the strong female characters I love to watch.

Word, sister.

Although I’m not old and decrepit yet,** I’ve seen huge changes in the way female characters have been presented in tv shows over my lifetime, and these two shows are exemplars of an ideal we can continue to strive for.  I remember growing up, watching great shows like Roseanne and Murphy Brown, where strong female characters were the cause of controversy (how dare Roseanne act gross, like a man?  How dare Murphy decide to be a single mom?) and thinking, what’s the big deal?  After all, I was raised by a single mom who wasn’t always June Cleaver,*** and I turned out relatively okay.

Even with these strong women in the mid to late 90’s, the vast majority of lady characters back then still fit into a number of rather unflattering, standardized checkboxes:  the nagging wife, the overly driven career b*tch, the slutty (or if not slutty, airheaded) girlfriend, the saintly mother figure, and so on.  Although you can generally still find tv shows today where most of the women are characterized in this manner (Two and a Half Men, I’m looking at you – thank goodness that’s over now), the roles for women have expanded drastically.  Now, they encompass everything from these old stereotypes (which aren’t always inaccurate – I’m a nagging wife sometimes, myself) to the myriad of roles women actually play within our real lives. 

Although women being in different roles within tv shows is a small but essential piece of our society’s acceptance of gender equality in general, what’s even more important is the vast range of roles each female character now encompasses.  Finally, back to Parks and Carter!  In Parks, Leslie (Amy Poehler’s character) is driven, but she’s also fallible; she’s kind and loving but tends toward being overly domineering; she’s confident but still doubts herself sometimes.  In Carter, Peggy (played by Hayley Atwell) finds herself constantly stymied and discouraged by a society that sees her as a secretary instead of someone equal to the men in her office; she knows her worth but doubt herself every now and then when the biases of those around her get to be too much.

Peggy Carter: Bada$$

In short, both ladies are complicated, exactly like every woman you know in your actual, real life, and this is outstanding.  Instead of being portrayed as one-dimensional figures in the background of a story about someone else, these ladies are the focus of their respective shows, and they are able to fully express themselves.  Thankfully, it seems that more and more people (women AND men) are loving tv (and movies, of course) like this, showing decision-makers that it doesn’t matter whether the main character is male or female**** as long as the story is strong and well-written.  Hopefully, this will bode well for the future of media like this, and I’ll sure be there, excited to witness it.

Later!

Amy

* My original title for this post was “Leslie Knope is My Spirit Animal.”  Then I decided to write about Agent Carter as well, so it was modified a bit.  However, how much do you love the spirit animal line?  I mean, for reals.  I should have that printed on a t-shirt.

** Contrary to popular opinion, apparently.  What?  Other people in their mid-30’s like to watch birds in the backyard and check out large print books from the library!

*** Cut to Mom reading this and laughing hysterically.

**** Or both, at the same time or different times –  Transparent, anyone?