Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is author of “Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted” and “Seinfeldia.”Mary Richards wasn’t trying to be anyone’s feminist icon. And yet, because Mary was the central character on the classic 1970s sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” those small, everyday actions made her a feminist icon. When the actress who portrayed her, Mary Tyler Moore, died Wednesday at age 80, it marked the end of an era, sure. Would a modern Mary — no TV star, no feminist icon, just a woman living life on her terms — have marched? “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” helped generations of women to see alternatives for themselves beyond the standard housewife role.

Source: Washington Post January 28, 2017 00:36 UTC