Women In Pop Culture
American pop culture has had a strong influence on society and politics. The types of T.V. shows and music of the decade tend to reflect the norms of society. From the 1950's to the 2000's there are correlations between women in politics how women are portrayed in pop culture. In the 1950's the shows like "Leave It To Beaver" and "I Love Lucy" featured the main woman as a housewife catering to the needs of her husband and children. In the 1950's the social norm for women was to be a housewife and not have a career. In the 1960's the first episode of the show "That Girl" aired. Starring Marlo Thomas the show's original name was going to be "Miss Independent" because the main character was an unmarried single woman who was supporting herself through her career as an actress in New York City. In society, more women were entering the paid workforce. However, common jobs for women included secretaries and assistants. A birth control pill was first approved by the federal government which prevented unwanted pregnancies allowing women to at least start their careers instead of focusing on their family. In the 1970's a show called "Mary Tyler Moore Show" had a similar theme to "That Girl" in the way that both of the main characters were independent women supporting themselves. Also in the 1970's, Gloria Gaynor released a song entitled "I Will Survive" a song about being a strong woman without a man. In the 1980's strong female leads in music appeared. The band "Heart" was the first female-fronted band in rock and roll history. They went on to sell 30 million records and became one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Madonna was another iconic symbol of a successful female artist. She sold over 300 million records and is now a seven-time Grammy award winner. During the 80's in politics, the wage gap decreased from 49% to 32% and Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice. In pop culture, however, it is not until the 2000's where women were portrayed not only as career women but also as workaholics or hard working. Shows like "Gilmore Girls", "Parks and Recreation" and "30 Rock" all have female main characters who are shown constantly working. The show "Gilmore Girls" was one of the first shows to have a working single mom as the main character.