Popular Culture Review 30.1
ing silly or differential . Nevertheless , the situations in which they placed themselves , outside of the traditional domestic sphere of earlier television shows , offered new possibilities , especially in the realm of communication and media , for a young audience caught up in a changing world , and over time , Patty , Ann , and Mary matured , developing new independence and strength . As Hope Reese asserts , “ America was in the middle of the women ' s rights movement ; The Feminine Mystique , released in 1963 , urged women to envision work outside the home , touching a nerve for housewives . The Pill became available to all women , regardless of marital status , in 1972 . And more and more women were earning degrees and setting off to find jobs ” ( Reese ). Patty Lane may have made some missteps as a newspaper editor , Ann Marie may have had to play a gagged hostage , and Mary Richards may have heard her own voice quaver when she demanded a raise ( Armstrong 183 ), but these characters nevertheless planted the suggestion that it was desirable for a female to strike out on her own , set goals , pursue interesting work as perhaps an editor , actress , or associate producer , and not worry about getting married and starting a family .
The shows also created an aspirational lifestyle . What Jennifer Keishin Armstrong writes about The Mary Tyler Moore Show could really be applied to each of these shows : as its “ audience grew , advertisers and thus TV networks , were scrambling to cater to the new consumer group known as ‘ Life Stylers ’: women who embraced liberation in their everyday lives without necessarily identifying as feminists . These women were Mary Richards . And they needed fabulous clothes , beauty products , and furniture to feel like the independent women they wanted to be . The rise of the young empowered woman on television had at least as much to do with marketing as with feminist ideals . Products such as
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