Women report in 1972 found that women in whatever role on television "were portrayed as dependent, unintelligent, submissive creatures who were adjuncts of men" (Commission on Civil Rights 12). Portrayals of women in occupational roles were infrequent and were restricted to relatively few occupations, and women were also rarely depicted as working wives (Commission on Civil Rights 13).
Women have always been more frequently portrayed in comedy roles than in serious roles on television. The Commission found that women in situation comedies in the 1970s still tended to be subordinate to the men in their lives, though some female characters had become stronger over the years and some new situations were explored:
The new situation comedies are attempting to portray women more realistically than in the past. Willingness to explore controversial issues has resulted in the treatment of issues pertinent to women: rape, unwanted pregnancy, or job discrimination. Furthermore, the attempt to deal with issues such as these seems to have enriched the portrayals of the females in situation comedies (Commission on Civil Rights 23).
When it first went on the air in the 1970s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was considered a breakthrough because it presented a young woman in the working world rather than as a wife and mother. A more recent example of a working woman in a television comedy is found on Murphy Brown. Changes in television portrayals of women reflect changes in women's roles in society. More and more women have been entering the job market in the years since World War II. This trend was noted by 1960, but the size of the trend was underestimated. By the mid-1970s, women had entered the job market at rates not expected to be reached until the mid-1980s, and it was reported then that nearly 48 percent of American women over sixteen years of age either worked or wanted a job. Numerous reasons were given for this, including a ...