Women in television

Women in television shape the medium as performers, writers, producers, executives, directors, and creators, influencing what appears on screen and how programs are made.

Lucille Ball: American comedian, actor, and producer who starred in and helped produce the sitcom I Love Lucy. Her production company helped establish women’s authority behind the camera as well as comic stardom.
Showrunner: The senior television writer-producer responsible for a series’ creative direction and day-to-day production. Women showrunners can guide scripts, casting, and production as a series develops.
Gender representation in media: The portrayal and visibility of genders in media content and production. Women’s influence is measured partly through whose experiences television depicts and whose labor it credits.
Gender pay gap: The difference in average earnings between women and men across a workforce or population. Pay disparities reveal an institutional inequality that visibility and success alone do not resolve.
Shonda Rhimes: American television writer and producer who created Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and other series. Her long-running dramas demonstrate the influence of women showrunners on popular television.
Television writer: A writer who develops, scripts, or revises material for television programs. Writing rooms are a major route through which women shape characters and storylines.
Bechdel test: A test asking whether a work features two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The test highlights a basic screenwriting measure of women’s presence in fictional stories.
Glass ceiling: An unofficial barrier that limits advancement into senior roles for members of disadvantaged groups. The concept captures obstacles women face moving from creative work into television leadership.
Norma Rae Harper: American television executive who led programming at the National Broadcasting Company in the 1970s. Her executive career offers a landmark example of women shaping network programming decisions.
Television director: A director who interprets a television script and guides its performance and visual production. Directing determines how written scenes become performances and images on screen.

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