Jen Letherer

The New Female Archetypes: Rethinking Women's Roles in Groups Through Television Jen Letherer

Traditional depictions of women in media have designated only two archetypes: the goddess (think princess) and the temptress (think femme fatale). But shows like The Golden Girls, Designing Women, The Facts of Life, and Sex and the City have groups of four women with other distinct roles. Maybe what these shows display is a natural tendency toward different roles that women fill as they function in working groups. The archetypes exist on TV, and they may also appear in our own lives. Are we Leaders, like Dorothy or Julia; Sarcastic Seconds, like Miranda or Natalie; Innocents, like Tootie and Charlene; or Flirts, like Samantha and Blanche?