Otherwise, the many women featured in movies and TV programs were usually flat, shadowy figures, someone's wife or girlfriend. Nearly two decades later, women's images are somewhat less limited. From Murphy Brown to Roseanne, women are expected to earn a paycheck, if not launch a career. Working mothers abound. Even the wealthy beauties of Dallas focus on greed as much as glamor.
Women have yet to be all they can be onscreen, however.
Stereotypes are shaded more subtly, but they are still there. Wrinkles and glasses are still taboo. If images of women were only limiting, if would be sad, but not tragic. Unfortunately, most of the images of women are not just restricted, but negative. These images misrepresent who we are, demean us, and make it harder to see women as people.