Prior to Channel 4’s launch, television was still a predominantly masculine affair. The make-up of the first commissioning team, including Liz Forgan
and the late Naomi Sargent, led to experiments in producing television made by women for women, such as Broadside. The growth of the independent production sector, nurtured by Channel 4’s input and investment, gave rise to more flexible working practices in the industry, which favoured an increasingly female work force. Documentaries like Beneath the Veil and Sisters in Law allowed Channel 4 to chart the experiences of women in different cultures. And as western women have started to win the equality fight, the focus has shifted towards a more relaxed examination of the gender gap through series like The Girlie Show, Smack the Pony, Desperate Housewives and, above all, Sex and the City, which remains the ultimate portrait of modern women wanting it all and the price they are paying for almost succeeding.
In This Chapter
- Introduction
- From A Woman of Substance to Beyond Sex and the City by Zoe Williams
- Sex & the Modern Girl by Michele Hanson
- The New Domesticity by Rita Konig
- Gallery
Chapter Gallery
