Too many women in powerful roles on TV

I didn't read the article as complaining that there were too many women in powerful roles on TV but that the way they were portrayed failed to show how hard it was for them to get there and how their journeys (and their reality in the role) would be different from a man. The shows make it seem like a woman just has to be good at her job, whereas the reality is that a woman has to be good at her job and deal with sexism.

Well exactly, women have and do have these roles. I suppose the other danger is, people might think equality is solved.

I didn't think at all that there were too many women on the Bodyguard etc, any more than usual or I would expect. Maybe in the firearms dept, but otherwise I didn't think it remarkable. Idiots and misogynists will always put their own spin on it no matter what.

I agree, women do have these roles, and have had these roles but yes it is a conundrum, as it isn't equal across all walks of life, or even across all the organisation as a whole even, eg in Killing Eve etc.

Obviously we cannot go back to having hardly women on TV, so the key is finding stories that are able to show the nuance and challenges for women as a natural part of the story. I think Mercurio does a great job with his shows, the writing comes across as convincing.

What is interesting to me though is that many of the strong women characters tend to be the same well known actresses over and over. Eg in the Bodyguard, and i don't think this helps. Not so much Keely Hawes as the lead as you would expect it, but the other heads of dept were all well known faces that have been in similar roles before.

Perhaps it is the lack of character development time that made me feel it was a bit generic to see them again, maybe that gave some sense of over familiarity with these same actresses, and maybe that made someone say there were too many women.

Less well known actresses or greater contrasts in the casting between the police heads might have felt more individual or less obvious perhaps. But I don't think the Bodyguard is up there with Line of Duty or other shows by any means.

Women in powerful roles in sci-fi are good because they represent what should and could happen.

I absolutely love watching programmes full of strong women. I really enjoyed killing Eve because I thought the main female characters in that were so excellent.

I don't see the problem personally. We need the balance to be shifted over and if people see on television women in these powerful roles than they are more likely to accept them in real life.

I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she’s coming from a good place, but I think she’s wrong. As Mercurio pointed out, all those roles have been, or currently are, held by women. The head of the Met, of the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance are all women. Until pretty recently both the Home Secretary and the PM were women, and of course Stella Rimmington was head of MI5. I‘ve attached a neat comment from JM which I CBA to retype.

I think this is a version of the phenomenon whereby if women take up more than 1/3 of the airtime they’re seen to be monopolising it. Bodyguard had a shedload of powerful male characters: whip, PMs, head of MI5, bomb disposal officer, senior investigating cop, and of course the protagonist, but because nearly half of the roles were played by women then suddenly it’s a crisis of over representation.

I suppose it could be a concern that it fails to highlight how far we still have to go in terms of equal representation in the workforce.

But god, given how depressing things are for women in the real world right now do we really also have to watch tv shows just about white men as well?

Oh this is a fascinating conundrum. Seriously. I really think that.

Role models good.
Having "real life" stuff that paints picture women are much more "equal" than they are and maybe leads to people thinking feminism done/ gone too far... not good

Women as perpetual victims= bad
Shows with loads of women psychos murderers sex offenders skewing public perception 》 women do it too... Also not good

Yep conundrum alright

In case she hasn't noticed there has been a few female Home Secretaries?! Well 3. Importantly 3 of the last 5. I get the argument but poor examples.

It's such an odd thing to write (and one that guarantees coverage to its author) that I wonder if it's as simple as Daisy Goodwin having a new series etc to push.