In 1995, Shonda Lynn Rhimes found herself an unemployed scriptwriter in Los Angeles, California. The recent grad from the University of Southern California was barely making ends meet and working a variety of day jobs while attempting to get a start in her desired occupational field. Today in 2016 you can find Rhimes taking an entire three-hour block on a major network during primetime on Thursday nights, even creating her own production company known as "ShondaLand."

Since Rhimes' first major television hit, "Grey's Anatomy" in 2005 she has only continued to create complex, popular content that intrigues viewers. All of her shows have a common theme, we find ourselves perplexed on how much we truly feel, empathize, and relate to these fictional characters. What Rhimes has done for television is not only the creation of interesting storylines and makes us want to keep watching, but she has paved the way for TV shows being led by a strong female character. All of her shows have this in common, they all revolved around a woman and her life, we for once are not given a show dominated by a male main character. Although romantic relationships are a large part of the storylines in her shows, it tends to always return back to the women themselves, not just who they're interested in.

In "Grey's Anatomy" the character of Cristina Yang truly represents that. She gets in a relationship quite quickly in the series, however it seems as though it's not the most important thing in the world to her as it does on most shows were women are remotely involved. We see how much she loves her internship at the hospital, and how competitive she is to be hands on in surgeries. She's work first, and having someone to come home to at the end of the day (if she even does) is just something extra. Rhimes describes Cristina as the character she created to say the things she had always been to scared to say herself.

“She was test-driving the idea that maybe I don’t want to get married. She was test-driving the idea that you could be more excited about work than about being in a relationship. She was test-driving the idea that being powerful is interesting, much more interesting than a lot of things we’re supposed to want as women.”

Not only is Rhimes giving us female leads, but in her shows "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder" we have strong African American women running things. There are practically no other shows on TV that feature a black woman being the forefront of the program, but instead, they're usually depicted in certain negative stereotypes. There's the trite but persistent caricature of the "Angry Black Woman" we constantly see in television and movies, in fact, Rhimes herself being labeled as such in media. However, she has been able to recast it in her own image and make it desirable, trampling such a taboo. Many praise Rhimes for delivering such diversity in her programming which she of course deserves, but to that, she says "It’s not trailblazing to write the world as it actually is."

Her characters aren't the only ones wherewe see a theme of "yes woman can dominate a space," but the work Rhimes has done in her own career has also proved that. She is a true, real example of how women don't have to fit in the category society puts them in. They don't have to be submissive or stay quite. Instead, a woman can be confident, truly love herself, be a powerhouse in a large industry, and above all believe in herself regardless of what others think of her. Rhimes has also made a strong effort to bring more jobs and opportunities to women who want to get involved in television. "We kind of joke we have the best directors because nobody's hiring them. It's wonderful for us because there's a treasure trove of women and people of color who can direct all of our shows."

Rhimes has brought many issues to light that tend to have some sort of taboo surrounding them. Specifically in Scandal, (spoiler alert ahead) Kerry Washington's character Olivia Pope has what is very much assumed to be an abortion in the season five winter finale. The entirety of the episode the viewers have no knowledge that Olivia is even pregnant, it isn't until we see her on the operating table that we come to this conclusion. We have no idea whether or not she struggled with the thought to have an abortion or if she knew right away what she was going to do. However what this shows is a woman exercising her right to choose what she did with her body after being continuously told what to do throughout the episode about other matters. Immediately after it aired many viewers and critics asked when in fact Olivia would tell the father about the procedure, Rhimes replied saying "my question is, does he have to? A woman made a choice about her body that she legally has the right to make."

Scandal, a political drama has also always been reflective often what's going on in real, current politics. The season five winter finale also contained a storyline regarding more reproductive rights and the GOP's want to cut Planned Parenthood funding. There has also been an episode revolving gun control rights, regarding a young African American boy being gunned down by the police. Most recently, however, it's been election season on the show and we have certain candidates that are to be reflective of the politicians we currently have running for office. The character of Mellie Grant who is also the former first lady is supposed to signify Hillary Clinton although being a Republican nominee rather than a Democrat. We are able to see the treatment that Mellie receives from the public for having a kind of strong, hard exterior. There's also, of course, the character of Hollis Doyle who is reflective none other than Donald Trump. Therefore, we are met with the kind of absolute ridiculousness that represents his entire campaign.

At large, Shonda Rhimes has stretched the boundaries of character and context, diversity, and social boundaries that go beyond the norms of television. She has truly revolutionized what it means to be a woman on television, and what it means to be a woman in today's society. Rhimes has made her mark on television letting the public know that above all, yes women can, and they will.