European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine female characters such As Linda Wasj Lead lives worthy of an american express and Linda Lavin right As Alice tees gains in How to portrays women. The Way to portrays women poor and working class females ignored by Bob Dart Cox news service television is doing a better Job of portraying successful women but ignores the poor and working class women who Are prevalent in real to America according to report released by inc National commission on working women female characters on top rated Nielsen programs other Shan soap . Lead lives worthy of an american express not " said the report. For the most part these worries  it Ait. Claire Huxtable on tfil1 Cosby show is a Succes Slu lawyer and fulfilled Mother and wife. Etyc Konton on family tics is an architect with a Lively family and supportive husband the kinds of jobs women hold in television s idealized work Torci Romolin dramatically different from those hold by real life  the report was released at the presentation of the annual Alice awards the commission gives to to programs most accurately portraying working women the winners included a time Lor Trumph. The lbs to movie based on a True Story of a housewife who becomes an army Pilot a Macneil Lehrer segment on iwo women garbage collectors in now York and women in the sugar carte Fields a portrait of Rural working women in Louisiana presented by a lab to in Baton Rouge. We Are immensely pleased to see that television is moving beyond portraying women As victims or As characters who spend the vast majority of their Lime searching for husbands said Linda Lavin Star of Neil Simon s Broadway sound and the actress who portrayed Alice on to. The inclusion of Strong female characters who Lead productive successful lives is commendable and Long overdue. By the badly needed next step is to expand the portrayal of women to include More than the elite Well to do actually fewer than one in Lour women 23 percent hold professional or managerial positions the report said but on the 25 to programs premiering this season 61 percent of the female characters hold those High paying jobs As do 39 percent of the characters on the lop 25 Nielsen rated  the report is entitled women in focus an analysis of to s female characters end their jabs. Ii was prepared by the National commission on working women an advocacy and research group that claims to represent the approximately to percent of employed women who Are concentrated in Low paying Low status  the report concludes that by portraying mostly the economically elite and socially successful to is distorting the real world where viewers  a significant number 16 percent of female characters on the lop Nielsen rated programs Are women of Leisure who work neither in the Home nor in the labor Force the report noted these women Are the characters on prime Lime soap operas such Asda fas dynasty Falcon s Crest and Knof s Landing. The intentional unreality of female occupations on prime Lime soap operas makes any comparison to real life  indeed the women who do work on those programs routinely find themselves in executive positions for which they have lit lie or no training the report observed. In addition these executives Wear sexy saturday december 27, 19b6 alluring clothing to the office and Freety mix business and Romance such to recipes or Success in business Are in fact recipes for disaster in the real world among the findings of the report on the 2d lop ranked programs women characters Over Tho age of 40 account or 40 percent of All females portrayed this number almost exactly mirrors the percentage of real life women Over 40, in fact women Over 40 account for 39 percent of the female population Almas i iwo thirds of the women on the lop ranked programs work outside the Home. However this to work Force is overwhelmingly and unrealistically professional there arc very few Ordinary women workers on these programs,1 the report said. Because of to s need to entertain and engage the viewer it i wills and heightens even the most Ordinary jobs thus Diane on cheers is no Ordinary waitress nor is Agnes Divesto on moonlighting a typical receptionist the vast majority of female characters on television Are wealthy or comfortably Well of working class and poor women Are virtually invisible. In reality less than 0 2 percent of All adult women in the . Have annual incomes Over $75,000, while 13 percent live below the poverty level. The median annual income for All women is $7,5 58." 4 there Are proportionally far fewer married women characters on to than there Are in real  on the lop rated programs Only 25 percent of the adult women Are married while in real life 60 percent Are married. Women on to continue to be segregated by race. Hispanic and asian women Are almost never  the stars and stripes Page 13