Inspiration For Change

The great shift from the family centered sitcoms of the 60’s to the working girl, female
lead sitcoms of the 70’s are a perfect sign to show how women’s views of themselves
and their role in society has shifted. The question centering the women's liberation
movement was “why can’t a woman define her happiness and success by things other
than her husband and children.” The sitcoms in the 70’s were, seemingly, trying to
explore that very question, starting with the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary Richards,
from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, was a woman of that movement, daring to dive into
the tv world as a single, 30 year old woman, in a world where, just a few years prior,
female flight attendants were fired when they turned 30. Like the Feminine Mystique
opened up the eyes of women and allowed them to relate in their frustration, like
Mrs.O’Connell pointed out, Mary Tyler Moore Show did the same. This show, being
the first representation of feminism in the pop culture, showed women that they can
not only work and be proud of the work they do, but that the struggles they face in
being one of few women in their offices and facing unequal pay, as S03E01 of the
Mary Tyler Moore Show highlighted. The show was so successful and inspiring that
Mary Tyler Moore received multiple awards for it, which just shows the strong desire
women of the 70’s had to make an impact on their image in society.