Of Gold and the Ages

As a young girl weaned on Wonder Woman, I Love Lucy and Mary Tyler Moore, I never spent too much time thinking about the roles of women in television. However, being older and more cynical now, it’s hard not to spend time thinking about what images the ‘boob tube’ is reflecting back at us.

I keep reading that we are in a golden age of women on television. Ushered in by programs such as The Closer, we now have the holy grail of talented performs, interesting characters and commercial viability lined up like favorable astrological signs to lead us into the promise of a new era for women’s roles on television. And specifically for women’s leading roles.

The path to this new age was paved over the past decade or so by genre television, specifically sci fi and fantasy. We have had a Buffy Summers, Dana Scully, Katharine Janeway, Sydney Bristow and even a Xena:Warrior Princess (my personal favorite, for the record). Through the lens of the outrageous and mystical, women can be shown as strong, heroic, capable and commanding. And they could do it while having flaws, weaknesses and shortcomings without being diminished or defined by them.

By taking that step away from reality, perhaps the idea of the woman being the strongest or the one in charge may be less threatening, easier to accept by a society which still has a tendency to label strong, opinionated women as Bitches, simply by default.

We still have a new set of science fiction based realities redefining themselves with their powerful women. Starbuck has famously changed genders, the Terminator has given way to a story focused on Sarah Connor, and even Jamie Summers has been reinvented without the Bionic Man leading the way.

But these days, women are increasingly taking front and center in the more reality based procedurals. We have The Closer, Saving Grace, and Women’s Murder Club and perhaps even Bones and Damages. Shows defined by their meticulous examination of realities, can also be defined by strong, complex female leads, I would say that the beauty of the age we are in isn’t characterized by the shiny glitter of gold, but the gritty strength of iron. And yet, that's not uncharted territory. Once upon a time, there was Cagney and Lacey which embodied all of those elements as well, so why has it taken us more than 20 years to begin finding it's successors?

With all that in mind, I’m going to examine the current state of women being piped into our living rooms to see what glitters, what resonates and what has the strength to stand the test of time.