Watching the old tv show "McCloud". My gosh was there ever a lot of sexism on that show.

[applegrove]

Amazing that it was only 40 years ago it was on.

[Warpy]

1. The 70s were the nadir for women's roles

since most shows with female cast members were jiggle shows featuring young women, scantily clad, with no brains to bless themselves. "Petticoat Junction" comes to mind.

Why do you think we all put on our brown shirts and jackboots and started to fight against this shit?

[lalalu]

2. I tried describing "Petticoat Junction" to someone

and they couldn't believe it. I also remember one of the biggest fights my parents ever had was when they were going out and my mother was wearing a pantsuit instead of a pretty dress. The funny thing is my father was pretty liberal but even he had his hangups.
We women have come a long way but need to keep fighting.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. There were lots of '70s shows

that didn't have women who were "young, scantily clad, with no brains to bless themselves". In other words, there was more to the '70s than just "Charlie's Angels" and "Three's Company". For example, there was:

Maude (as liberated as they came)
Rhoda (same as with Maude)
Sanford and Son (Aunt Esther was pretty darn strong-minded)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Georgette was kind of ditzy, but Mary certainly wasn't)
Barnaby Jones (Lee Merriwether was a darn smart secretary)
Mannix (Gail Fischer was also a very smart secretary)
Dallas-- Sue Ellen was a woman not to be messed with.
The Mod Squad-- Peggy Lipton was a bit "jiggly", but she had brains.
The Jeffersons-- Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) was far more level-headed than her husband.
Police Woman-- Angie Dickinson was a tough cop

And Petticoat Junction ran from 1963 to early 1970, so it wasn't exactly a '70s show.

[cliffordu]

3. WELL, GOLLY GOSH

Imagine that.