Les Femmes

Two of my favorite shows feature women leading a team of mainly men: The Closer and 30 Rock. They have more in common than one thinks. Though Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) leads a team of tough LAPD detectives, and Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) leads a bunch of smart ass men as producer of a sketch comedy show, there are liberal dollops of humor as both women do their job with if not total finesse, a high competence and assuredness.

Both do have to deal with some sexism, but Brenda slaps away any doubts to her job by the middle of season one and Liz only encounters it in a very soft fashion in an episode or two (namely the episode magnifique "The C Word"). What they do deal with is being female - Brenda's premature menopause, Liz's biological clock.


As more women are taking managerial positions and working in certain sectors of the corporate world where few had tread in decades past, it is quite nice to see these displays of confident but human showcases of women in leadership. I'm finding many women can relate - not because it focuses on their female-ness as a career obstacle, but because these roles simply filter their jobs through a female perspective. The sexism is dismissed early on and instead the plots - murder, cast histrionics - take center stage and make for a very enjoyable show with a relatable character.

But lest we forget the troubles women have gone through, there is always Mad Men. However, there are a trailblazer or two in the cast. Last week, quiet mousy secretary Peggy is handed a copy writing gig - of course, she's not given a raise or anything, and her supervisor buries her with more work as jealous punishment, but no one said climbing up towards the glass ceiling was easy...