50 fearless, confident, all around badass women on television

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Claire Huxtable – The Cosby Show

We can’t let the Bill Cosby scandal overshadow the contribution that Phylicia Rashad made to the television canon. It’s easy to dismiss The Cosby Show as just a vehicle for an abuser and rapist, but Clair Huxtable was really the heart of that show.

As one of the first professional black women on network TV at the time, Claire Huxtable blazed a trail for professional women who were also wives and mothers. Claire was a successful lawyer, a devoted wife, and mother to five children. Yes, five children – the bulk of which were all teenagers at the same time. She never once strangled them or pushed them down the stairs, and that alone is pretty badass.

She nurtured her family, offered love and guidance, all the while working to support them financially. She balanced work and life with more grace than any other woman, and her staunch defense of equality for women became of her most beloved attributes.

Some of Claire’s best scenes were when she squared off against her mildly sexist son in law Alvin. She put him in his place every time he dared to suggest that wife, Sandra, be anything less than what she wanted. Claire was and intersectional feminist before any of us even knew what that meant.