"It's locked," Nancy says as she tries to break into the headquarters of the patriarchy.

Buckle up ladies, gentlemen and CBS. This is going to be a lengthy, but worth-it article about Nancy Drew, femininity, CBS and our society failing girls. I can already see the feminists with their popcorn, the patriarchs scoffing at the subject and the innocent bystanders lingering on the threshold, cursor hovering over the "X" at the corner of the tab in their browser, skimming through the article to make sure the argument is worth it.

(Hint: It is.)

Nancy Drew has been a role model for girls since 1930 where a spunky, intelligent 16-year-old amateur detective was able to pick locks, uncover stolen artifacts and confront the bad guys in the name of justice, even if it means putting herself in mortal peril. Through hundreds of Nancy Drew adventure and mystery books to TV shows to movies to video games and all sorts of merchandise, it's fair to say that she is an icon for young girls.

I was definitely one of those girls growing up. Heck, I wanted to be Nancy. And, when I heard about a new show on CBS called Drew where Nancy Drew was going to be an NYPD officer AND played by Sarah Shahi from Person of Interest, I was like "Sign me up!"

So, it was more than than disappointing when CBS tossed the idea, even though it was well received by focus groups. Why did they trash it, then? Oh simple.

It was "too female" for CBS.

First: A Brief Sexist (and Racist) History of Nancy Drew

Yep. I hate to admit that my ultimate female role model and childhood hero had such shortcomings, but it's true. After all, when a character goes through the Great Depression, Post World War II era, Civil Rights Movement, invention of the internet, all the way up to the terrorist and online espionage crises of today, the writing all definitely reflect the prejudices of its time.

In the 1950s, new publishers for the detective's series thought her stories should be "more modern."

So, a female writer named, Harriet Adams (one of the many ghost writers and editors under the pseudonym, Carolyn Keene) was advised to get rid of the more racist stereotypes (good move in theory) and create a more modern female role model.

The first "Carolyn Keene" was an independent, talented young writer, Mildred Benson who was credited for "[breathing] ... a feisty spirit into Nancy's character." Later when new publishers took over the name, Benson was instructed to add more "feminine" touches to Nancy's character. So, she added "girlier" adjectives and "gentler" adverbs to Nancy's personality and speech. For example, adding "sweetly" after saying or doing something.

However, this wasn't enough, and later Carolyn Keene writer, Adams was instructed to go even farther to create a more "modern" series. This is probably where it all went south; or rather, 1950's screwed up version of "political correctness."

First, for the racial stereotype crisis, they simply took out most if not all of the non-white characters overall. This non-white characters were portrayed as dumb, lowly servants and the Civil Rights Era publishes didn't want to stir the pot anymore. However, instead of replacing them with strong, prominent characters of color, they simply eliminated the stereotypes and the characters.

The Feminine Detective

Then, they further revised Nancy's character to be "more modern" – i.e., less spice and more sugar to this power-detective girl formula. Picture those 1950s magazines and movies pushing girls to be more submissive, docile, sweet, and gentle. Think of the advertisements promoting female domesticity through household items' manufacturing.

Nancy was suddenly the reflection of a teased-and-hairsprayed-hair girl in a red-checkered dress was a magnifying glass who suddenly needed a lot more help from her best friends, Bess and George, her father (the lawyer) and her football-playing-and-big-muscled-boyfriend, Ned. While it's great to have help, the new writers portrayed Nancy as helpless without it.

A critic of Nancy's rich, privileged character claimed, "the character of Nancy Drew is that of a girl who is able to be 'perfect' because she is 'free, white and sixteen' and whose 'stories seem to satisfy two standards – adventure and domesticity. But adventure is the superstructure, domesticity the bedrock.'"

By the 1980s, though, Nancy was reflecting the power women and female Yuppies of the time, taking charge and getting herself into trouble without calling her dad or boyfriend the minute panic set in. Today, the modern Nancy Drew is still gentle, kind and compassionate, but she is also wicked smart, strong-willed and just. She is a "cultural icon" and "formative influence" of women today like "Sandra Day O'Connor," "Hillary Clinton," and "Laura Bush."

Still, her legacy continues. She has gone through so many literary make-overs that some modern Nancy followers might read the classic books and be shocked by the differences. No matter what intentions were ever behind the crafting of Nancy Drew, she has maintained her idol status for thousands of girls across the country.

The Problem with CBS & Our Society: Hatred for "Feminine"

"Feminine" should not be equated with "weakness." However, in our society and in most patriarchal societies (because this kind of dialogue is what glues it all together), it is.

Think about it. Gender neutral is simply a lack of the feminine. A gender-sociolinguistic teacher I had once pointed that out and I thought of every "gender neutral" campaign I had even seen, and she was so right it was scary. Bland colors, masculine clothes, etc.

We think "strong women" and we see women physically fighting, having sex, being assertive, yelling, etc. All things that men are famous for. While women can do these things and be strong, why don't we hold women up for being strong in how feminine they are, as well? In how much fashion knowledge a woman has that one look at her can silence a room? At how the gentle words and sweet smiles of some wives have stopped wars, and even started some! How a woman can carry, give birth to, nourish and care for a child all with her feminine body?

Why are these things not considered strength but kicking butt and taking names is?

Because men can't do them, so why should we equate those things to strength? It would threaten our fragile system.

This is why I love Nancy

She uses her intelligence. She is kind and caring. She dresses modestly because she knows she can win people over with her wit and charm. She knows her privilege and knows how to use the gifts she's been given.

And in CBS's new proposed show, Drew, she would be a non-white NYPD detective who is sweet and suave. She would have been intelligent, sharp, keen and clever. She would have been a feminine and more sociable Sherlock Holmes. She would have been the detective who didn't have to insult anyone to piss people off: her intelligence and near-perfect track record would.

CBS's BS

This show was dubbed "too feminine," and thus CBS was dubbed as haters of the feminine. This action caused an uproar amongst Twitter feminists everywhere. But let's look to CBS's claim and figure out what femininity they have allowed on their channel.

"The Big Bang Theory", "The Good Wife", "Madam Secretary", "Mom", "2 Broke Girls" and all of those daytime TV dramas like the "Young and the Restless". What's keeping shows like these from being too feminine for CBS?

Well, what sells? Sex. Think about how sexual these shows are or how casually characters talk about their sex lives. These women are attractive, and over-sexualized. They can't be too feminine for CBS; they are the CBS-crafted version of femininity.

However, in a more objective view of the channel, its idea that "Drew" was too feminine seems a little empty. It's more that "Drew" wasn't sexual or violent.

So, yes, I am floored, disappointed and more angry than I can bare. I would have loved to see how this show would have turned out and I hope that some other channel picks up the pilot and rolls with it in the future.

I'm excited that the company redeemed itself a bit with the casting of Laverne Cox in Doubt, the show that will take "Drew's" time slot, but it begs the question on their opinions of Laverne Cox. How will she supply them the type of femininity they want? Are we to expect an over-sexualized attorney on her show as well? Probably.