Using The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a feminist teaching tool

Abstract

This paper explores the use of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a teaching tool used with a group of final‐year undergraduate students who gathered together last academic year (2007–8) to explore Women in Leadership, as part of a Communications course. The research focus was: How can the use of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (a 1970–7 American situation‐comedy) serve as teaching tool concerning an understanding of Second Wave feminism and women in the emerging role for women in the workplace? The particular connection with televisual texts suggests that the use of popular culture can connect today's college students with the often distant issues of Second Wave feminism.

Keywords:

• college teaching tool
• feminism
• Second Wave
• women at work