I just finished watching season one of Agent Carter and Peggy Carter is such a kick ass female protagonist and I have really enjoyed watching this show so far! Peggy is a fantastic female character but I could help but question whether or not the show represents a positive depiction of women or not.
The show is set in the 1940s in the years following World War Two, women were beginning to gain more rights and liberties following the war. Due to the absence of men during the years of the war it was up to the women to fill the roles that men traditionally would have taken up. That said, when the men returned home they expected things to go back to normal and generally weren't too happy about women trying to have more freedom and responsibilities out of the home. The idea that women are as capable as men runs strong throughout the first season of this show and the patriarchal oppression of women is highlighted thematically with the men at the SSR trying to get Peggy to fulfil more traditionally feminine roles such as answering phone calls and taking lunch orders rather than doing actual agent work. The demeaning nature of the men at Peggy's place of work stresses the attitudes of a lot of men at the time and illustrates a negative image of femininity.
That said, Peggy may be oppressed within the SSR but she uses her private investigation to rebel against the subjection she faces in her job. She subverts John Berger's theory that "men act and women appear" in film and television as she is an agent of her own fate (excuse that awful pun!). It is interesting also because in Peggy's private investigation Jarvis is her second in command which at the time would have been extremely uncommon for a man to be a woman's inferior.
Looking at how Peggy is represented through a superficial perspective is extremely interesting. On the one hand, Peggy is objectified throughout the show- her costumes and framing indicate that she is positioned in Laura Mulvey's notion of the male gaze. She is conventionally attractive with a perfect hourglass figure and flawless red lips which could be read as objectifying and disempowering. That said, Peggy could comply with the theories of Angela McRobbie which suggest that women can use their beauty and attractiveness as a method of persuasion and power. This is evident in one of the first missions that Peggy has of her own accord in which she wears a blonde wig in order to seduce the Spider.
All in all, I think Peggy Carter displays a positive depiction of femininity through her ability to reflect positive feminine attributes such as kindness and compassion as well as being physically capable, strong and independent.