Lifetime Leading Women?

      I can admit, as I'm sure many women out there can, that I have indulged in a guilty pleasure viewing of one or two over dramatic, poorly acted made for TV movies on a lazy Saturday afternoon. I sit there watching in horror as the actors stumble through their lines, guessing an hour ahead of time how the story will end, but nevertheless glued to the screen until the final credits roll. There's just something about the predictability and inanity of these movies that has a power to draw us into their not-so-intricate webs for a few hours, that we may never fully understand. Perhaps the worst offenders of this genre is Lifetime TV with their movies that almost always center around violence against women. 
      As a network supposedly created with the well-being and entertainment of women specifically in mind, you would think you would find more stories about women saving the day, being their own heroes, and succeeding on their own, rather than falling victim to men time after time.
     Instead, we find that not only has the intention of the network shifted from being informative on issues concerning women's health and family matters, it has now become so over dramatic and stereotypical in itself that it is now more degrading to women than it is supportive. And it's reach has gone even further, spanning everything from those same movies, to network-original dramas, and reality tv. 
      Below are some images advertising some of the most recent original programming on Lifetime Television:

                

The only woman portrayed in any type of strong, powerful position is Abby Miller of Dance Moms, the renowned "bitch" of the competitive dance world. Just one example of Lifetime perpetuating the stereotypes of portraying women and girls in highly sexualized, off-balance and therefore "weaker" poses, unless conveying the "bad" woman, or the "bitch".