Once Upon A Time

Oddly enough, while Once Upon A Time certainly has problematic gender representation just as any show would have problematic gender representation, this is a show that has a very balanced ratio of male and female characters. Women also tend to drive the main plot of Once Upon A Time just as much if not more often than men; this doesn't mean they will behave like men would in the same situation, but rather that women on Once Upon A Time don't often tend to be damsel in distress types.

A form of irony can be found in the way women are depicted on Once Upon A Time. The majority of female characters, with the exceptions of Emma and Tamara, are fairy tale characters. Yet Snow White is skilled at archery and would serve as “the brains” of the resistance to evil Queen Regina in the Enchanted Forest. Red Riding Hood is a werewolf who needs to wear a magical red cloak so that she doesn't turn, and she possesses enhanced senses and tracking abilities which have been shown off more than once; whenever someone needs to track an object or person down, they go to Red because nobody else is more reliable. Belle, while being extremely bookish, actually puts her book knowledge to practical use when tracking down a monster and helping Mulan slay it. Cinderella helps put together a plan to thwart Rumpelstiltskin. Mulan fights monsters and helps Prince Philip search for Aurora while she's under an enchanted sleep. Queen Regina is the main antagonist for much of the series, and is treated as a credible, serious threat to Storybrooke.

Male fairy tale characters tend to be as strong as they're depicted in the original tale, but it appears as though the writers wanted to apply twenty-first century sensibilities to the characters. This is just as well; Once Upon A Time would likely be less well received by modern viewers if women were treated true to the pseudo-medieval time period that the Enchanted Forest was presumably set in. Prince Charming rescues Snow White, but she rescues him just as often. The Seven Dwarves have individual personalities, but none of them is a joke and all of them should be taken seriously in a fight. In addition, the dwarves befriend a giant named Tiny in Storybrooke and adopt him as part of the dwarf group, and Tiny is initially bitter before he realizes there's a chance for redemption with new family and friends. Rumpelstiltskin taught the Evil Queen magic and was romantically involved with her mother before Cora spurned him. Neal was brave enough to escape when his father started to become ever more corrupted.

The series isn't without its problems, however. Recurring characters are predominantly white. Abortion and the idea of a woman's choice isn't brought up, even in the twenty-first century Storybrooke. Emma tries to bond with her son Henry despite having given him up for adoption 11 years prior to the start of the series, and wants Neal, his father, back in their lives despite having been independent prior to this. Neal has a black fiancee, who has straight hair and is revealed to be some sort of evil mastermind on the first episode she's introduced in. Nova, a fairy in training, couldn't earn her wings unless she gave up being in love with Grumpy, her dwarf boyfriend. Cora, originally a commoner woman, marries the king and promptly becomes evil after learning magic. Snow White is driven to suicidal behavior when she kills her worst enemy because she can't handle who she's become.

Overall, this series is rather progressive by modern standards concerning gender.  It's not so progressive about race, since the new recurring black character is evil, and depicts class during the pseudo-medieval era of the Enchanted Forest quite accurately.  Once Upon A Time still needs work, but gender representations are better than much of what is currently on television.