cagney and lacey

Cagney and Lacey are placed in an 80's white male dominant world, working as police officers. This therefore shows their strength as woman and their ability to climb the social ladder at the same pace as men. However, the fact that they are working in a male environment with slim figures, fashionable clothing and well-made faces and hair, it is suggested that women need to look attractive to be intelligent.
     In the opening scene, the cab's passenger is verbally abusive, quoting that she "sprinkles the place with powder and perfume." This is a stereotypical representation of women, however because they are the protagonists, the audience supports them and their motives, and equally find this offensive.
    Both dress in trousers and buttoned up shirts and so aren't represented as sexualised objects, and the focus of the programme is upon their minds, contrasting against the alpha male character who wears an unbuttoned shirt to expose his chest. This warps the typical representations of gender within the media, as usually women are provocotively dressed.