How far we have come...

[Griff]

Her character evolved over the length of the program. Its fascinating to watch. My sense was that feminism made ground faster in the US but outside of music my British cultural references were limited to Benny Hill and Monty Python...

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Griff

Her character evolved over the length of the program. Its fascinating to watch. My sense was that feminism made ground faster in the US but outside of music my British cultural references were limited to Benny Hill and Monty Python...

In some ways it did - mainstream British culture was quite anti-feminist and stuff like Benny Hill (stalking and rape gags to oompa oompa music - good teattime fayre for the whole family :P) was deeply sexist.

But - I am also being a little unfair, because there was good stuff, and there were people changing things and not every old fashioned male comic was a sexist pig - there was engaging and interesting drama, and exciting unusual sitcoms, and there were good male and female characters - but they existed within a surrouding sea of sexist culture and a set of tv staples that reflected that culture.

But one of the reasons I was conscious of some of this, even as a young child, was that it was also a culture that was self-consciously and rather clumsily attempting to question and examine those attitudes.