How TV helped second wave feminism

For a long time, TV has been the only thing that most of the US has in common. In past decades especially, people would turn on the TV during weeknights after being at work and look forward to the shows they turned on to watch for an hour or half an hour. During the sixties and seventies, second wave feminism had exploded in the US. Second wave feminism looked for equality in more than just the voting booth, it demanded equality in jobs, schools, sports, marriage, divorce, sex, and so much more. The reading showed how the sixties sparked change by things like The Feminine Mystique being published and organizations like NOW (National Organization for Women) starting. I think TV was used to show how important improving women's rights were and how it was ok to be a feminist and what it meant.
Obviously, the television in the seventies wasn't perfect and still showed women in a certain light, but it was much different than in the 60's. The opening theme songs showed this change alone. For example, the opening theme song to "The Donna Reed Show" shows Donna Reed basically just doing stuff for everyone else in her family, it also features her husband being tended to left and right and then them just leaving her to an empty house where she'll stay the whole day. In the show she's also wearing a long conservative dress. In "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" the theme song focuses on showing Mary (who the show is named after) living in Minneapolis and having a career, it doesn't focus on the men and children in her life and shows that women can have a life outside of that. Across the US people watched both of these shows when they were on, and I think it shows how the US had changed and that it was ok. Having shows like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" show that women can take a different path than the ones showed in "The Donna Reed Show' or shows like that. In the episode we watched for reading, Mary asks whys she isn't payed the same as the man who had her job before. I think when there are episodes like this that show women questioning inequalities it inspires women in real life and makes them feel comfortable enough to also ask and talk about it in their daily lives. The mainstream television shows in the seventies helped second wave feminism because of how they portrayed women. Shows like Charlie's Angels still showed the male gas, but it had women in a strong and powerful role as as smart private agents who fought men and won, I think it's also important that in the theme song it shows that they worked hard and became cops before this, showing that women can be occupations that are dominated by men.
Shows like the ones in 70's are the reason why we have shows today that are so focused on women and different minorities looking for rights. there is so much diversity in TV, from LGBTQ+ shows that focus on the lives of people who identify as something on the spectrum, similarly to women in the 60's and 70's LGBTQ+ are looking for acceptance and equality, using many different forums to express this, TV can be included as it shows members of this minority in a positive light. TV is an important tool in our society and can often be helpful for different movements.