From comedies to dramas, from superhero shows to musicals, 2018 brought us a variety of high-quality feminist TV shows. These shows explored issues facing women today, like sexual assault, reproductive rights, workplace dynamics, family drama, and much more.
These five shows explored each issue in meaningful, non-stereotypical ways and featured women in front of and behind the camera. As women fight for more representation in Hollywood, let’s celebrate where TV is making advances for women. Here are the five best feminist TV shows of 2018:
The Handmaid’s Tale
The critically acclaimed Season 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale gave Elisabeth Moss an Emmy win, and it put Hulu on the map for producing excellent original content. The premise of The Handmaid’s Tale is quite dark – women are raped constantly – and it’s truly terrifying to see how this hellscape could actually happen today. If you’re a feminist who’s into dark dramas, this is the perfect show for you.
While terrible things happen to the women pretty consistently, The Handmaid’s Tale is still a feminist show because it focuses on the women fighting back, however much they can, against the oppression of Gilead. Season 2 allowed viewers to see more of the relationship between Gilead and other countries (spoiler alert: it’s not great).
In fact, Commander Waterford’s visit to Canada gave us the best line of the season. The Commander tries to deny how Gilead treats its women. However, the lead diplomat tells him “We believe the women,” a line which couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Broad City
The creators of Broad City, Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, are also the main actors. With it being on Comedy Central, and with an unfortunate stereotype that female comedians aren’t as funny as the male ones, there is a lot of pressure for this show to be funny. And it is!
The relationship between these two best friends is central to the show. Their antics, however ridiculous, are so relatable. We recognize what it’s like to have that ride or die bond with a best friend, and there aren’t enough TV shows and movies that celebrate female friendships in this way.
Ilana and Abbi have created a show that explores feminism in hilarious often crass ways, which is refreshing since women to this day still experience pressure to act “proper.” This past season, the girls contend with what it means to live in a post-Trump America, including one of them going to a sex therapist because she hasn’t had an orgasm since the election. This same episode highlights powerful women and witches, which we highly recommend watching with your own coven – I mean, best friends.
Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones gives viewers an unlikely, and sometimes unlikeable, hero to root for. Jessica Jones is part of the Marvel Netflix universe, and while she’s a superhero, she’s certainly not perfect. She has a lot of issues to deal with. In the first season, she finally confronts her abuser (who also had superpowers to control minds, not terrifying at all), while in the second season, she deals with a complicated relationship with her mother.
Jessica is snarky with an alcoholic tendency, but we root for her nonetheless. Not just because she wears a sweet leather jacket, but because we recognize her struggles. The creatives behind Jessica Jones weren’t afraid to center on Jessica’s experience with sexual abuse in its first season. While it’s a painful subject for many women, it’s a story that’s worth telling to help women who are still dealing with the aftermath of their trauma.
Additionally, having a complicated relationship with your mother, like Jessica does this past season, is certainly relatable. This is another story worth telling because it’s a type of story that doesn’t get enough screen time. Hopefully, more networks and creatives will tell more stories about imperfect mother-daughter relationships.
Killing Eve
Sandra Oh’s casting as a series lead was exciting enough since we’ve loved her for her role as Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy. However, once we started watching her new show Killing Eve, we were instantly hooked on the premise, as well as the chemistry between the two main characters (who happen to be women).
Killing Eve is about a woman named Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), an MI5 agent who’s obsessed with serial killers, particularly one named Villanelle (Jodie Comer). The two women become equally obsessed with one another, leading to some exciting scenes and plot twists. Imagine finding a serial killer in your house who asks if she can have dinner with you. So many scenes in this show are so ripe with tension!
This BBC America show is intersectional feminism at work with an Asian American actress cast as a series lead, as well as having undeniable sexual chemistry between the two female characters. Also, the show was developed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who in addition to being an actor and writer is also the voice of L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story!
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
What is potentially the most feminist show on the air right now is disguised as a funny musical. While the name of the show is a stereotype, the show itself breaks stereotypes of women and other minorities. In this show, women have mental illnesses and abortions. A man with a wife and daughter realizes he’s bisexual. There are characters called “White Josh” and “Beans,” but they are not offensive at all. You can tell that the writers treat all their characters with love.
Every episode has new songs that add to the plot and character development. Season 3 had a song called “The Miracle of Birth” that described pregnancy with brutal honesty masked in a lovely ballad. Other topics that the creators weren’t afraid to explore in song this season are having healthy sperm and becoming a cat lady.
The main character Rebecca Bunch, played brilliantly by creator Rachel Bloom, is also not your stereotypical protagonist. There are often times where her actions are cringeworthy, and at the end of last season, we saw Rebecca Bunch at her lowest. This further adds to the range that women now have in art: a show can be successful even if their main character isn’t likable all the time.
Looking Ahead
The great news is that all of these shows will back in 2019. Hopefully, these shows can keep exploring strong feminist themes and influence other shows to do the same.