Influential Feminist TV Shows

Why This Matters

Television has been one of the most powerful vehicles for shifting cultural attitudes about gender, and understanding how feminist TV shows have evolved reveals broader patterns in second-wave, third-wave, and fourth-wave feminism. You're being tested not just on which shows exist, but on what feminist strategies they employ—whether that's workplace equality narratives, reclaiming female sexuality, intersectional representation, or dystopian critique. These shows don't just reflect feminist thought; they actively shape public discourse and normalize ideas that were once considered radical.

When analyzing feminist television, think about the mechanisms at work: Who has agency? Whose stories are centered? What systems are being critiqued? The shows on this list span five decades, and tracking their evolution helps you understand how feminist priorities have shifted from liberal feminist concerns (equal access to careers) to intersectional frameworks (examining how race, class, and sexuality compound gender oppression). Don't just memorize titles and air dates—know what type of feminist work each show is doing and why it mattered in its historical moment.

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Workplace Equality and Professional Identity

These shows challenged the assumption that women's primary identity should be domestic, instead centering stories on career ambition, professional competence, and economic independence—core concerns of second-wave liberal feminism.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

• Pioneered the single, career-focused female protagonist on network television during the height of second-wave feminism in the 1970s
• Workplace dynamics served as the primary narrative engine, normalizing women's presence in professional newsroom settings
• Challenged the "spinster" stereotype by presenting singlehood as a valid, even desirable choice rather than a failure

Murphy Brown

• Centered a powerful female journalist in a male-dominated field, directly addressing glass ceiling dynamics
• Single motherhood storyline sparked national political debate, demonstrating TV's power to influence real-world discourse
• Refused to soften its protagonist—Murphy was ambitious, difficult, and unapologetic, rejecting likability politics

Ally McBeal

• Blended workplace drama with internal fantasy sequences, visualizing the psychological toll of navigating professional spaces as a woman
• Body image and self-doubt were treated as legitimate feminist concerns, not superficial vanity
• Complicated the "having it all" narrative by showing career success coexisting with personal dissatisfaction

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Reclaiming Female Sexuality and Desire

These series made women's sexual agency central to their narratives, challenging the virgin/whore dichotomy and insisting that female desire is neither shameful nor exceptional—a key third-wave feminist intervention.

Sex and the City

• Centered female sexual pleasure as a legitimate topic of public conversation, not subtext or scandal
• Four distinct archetypes (Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda) represented different relationships to sexuality, avoiding monolithic "correct" feminism
• Consumer feminism critique—while groundbreaking, the show's equation of empowerment with luxury goods remains debated in feminist scholarship

Fleabag

• Fourth-wall breaks created radical intimacy, making the audience complicit in the protagonist's unfiltered interiority
• Grief, desire, and self-destruction were interwoven, refusing to separate "acceptable" female emotions from messy ones
• The "Hot Priest" storyline subverted the male gaze by making her desire the narrative engine, not his

Broad City

• Celebrated female friendship as primary relationship, deprioritizing romantic plots without dismissing them
• Bodily humor and sexual frankness were presented without shame or titillation, normalizing women's physicality
• Economic precarity was treated as context, not crisis—showing feminist concerns intersecting with class realities

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Subversive Strength and Genre Feminism

These shows used genre conventions—fantasy, action, supernatural horror—to literalize feminist themes, making patriarchy a monster that can be fought and defeated.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

• Inverted the "blonde victim" horror trope by making the cheerleader the hero, not the corpse
• "Chosen One" mythology functioned as metaphor for the burden of exceptional womanhood under patriarchy
• Trauma, consent, and recovery were explored through supernatural allegory, making difficult topics accessible to younger audiences

Xena: Warrior Princess

• Redemption arc centered a woman atoning for violence she committed, granting female characters moral complexity typically reserved for men
• Xena/Gabrielle relationship became foundational LGBTQ+ representation, even when networks demanded plausible deniability
• Physical competence was never questioned or explained—Xena simply was the strongest warrior, full stop

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Intersectional and Systemic Critique

These shows move beyond individual empowerment to examine systems of oppression—how gender intersects with race, class, sexuality, and state power. This reflects fourth-wave feminism's emphasis on intersectionality as an analytical framework.

Orange Is the New Black

• Ensemble structure deliberately decentered the white protagonist over time, amplifying marginalized voices
• Prison-industrial complex was critiqued as a system disproportionately harming women of color, poor women, and queer women
• Intersectionality made visible—characters' experiences varied dramatically based on their overlapping identities

The Handmaid's Tale

• Dystopian literalization of reproductive control made abstract policy debates viscerally urgent
• Complicity and resistance were both explored—Serena Joy demonstrates how women can enforce patriarchy for personal gain
• Timing amplified impact—premiering during debates over reproductive rights gave the show immediate political resonance

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two shows both center female journalists in newsroom settings, and how do their protagonists' approaches to workplace sexism differ generationally?

2. Compare and contrast how Sex and the City and Broad City treat the relationship between feminism and economic class. What does each show assume about its audience's material conditions?

3. Identify two shows that use genre conventions (fantasy, dystopia, supernatural) to literalize feminist themes. What does the genre framework allow each show to explore that realistic drama might not?

4. How does Orange Is the New Black demonstrate intersectional feminism in ways that earlier workplace-focused shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show did not? What structural and historical factors explain this shift?

5. If an essay prompt asked you to trace the evolution of feminist television from the 1970s to the 2010s, which three shows would you select to represent distinct waves or frameworks, and why?