--- ---  # Shonda Rhimes Doesn't Know Any 'Dumb And Weak Women' by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Oct 18, 2016 5:30 PM UTC  Producer and writter Shonda Rhimes attends EMILY's List Breaking Through 2016 at the Democratic National Convention at Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Producer and writter Shonda Rhimes attends EMILY's List Breaking Through 2016 at the Democratic National Convention at Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Paul Zimmerman—Getty Images For EMILY's List by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Oct 18, 2016 5:30 PM UTC Fans of _Grey’s Anatomy_ and _Scandal_ have [Shonda Rhimes](http://motto.time.com/4285317/shonda-rhimes-change-world/) to thank for some of the strongest female characters on television today. Rhimes’ TV shows are known for showcasing powerful and fearless female leads. And now we know why: the 46-year-old Chicago native doesn’t know any “weak and dumb women,”_Variety_ [reports](http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/shonda-rhimes-mipcom-recipe-success-dumb-weak-women-1201892320/). Speaking in Cannes ahead of receiving the [Personality of the Year Award at Mipcom](http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/shonda-rhimes-named-mipcoms-personality-of-the-year-1201785508/), Rhimes opened up about why she always focuses on creating strong female protagonists for her dramas. “I’m writing heroines who talk like my mothers, like my friends… I never felt that what they said was wild.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ The Hollywood power player also opened up about featuring [diverse casts](http://time.com/4192047/shonda-rhimes-producers-guild-awards-hollywood-diversity/) in her TV shows and said, “I chose not to examine that fact. We make TV characters look like normal people in the real world. We just try to tell the truth.” For all of her accolades, however, Rhimes doesn’t want to credit her success to [cracking the glass ceiling](http://motto.time.com/4394894/shonda-rhimes-glass-ceiling/). At _The Hollywood Reporter_‘s [Power Women Event](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/shonda-rhimes-at-thrs-2014-755878) in 2014, Rhimes paid homage to the women before her who helped pave the road for her success. She said, “Making it through the glass ceiling to the other side was simply a matter of running on a path created by every other woman’s footprints. I just hit at exactly the right time in exactly the right spot.” Rhimes’ next project is a new show named [_Still Star-Crossed_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5165412/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F1), which is a period drama based on the characters from Shakespeare’s _Romeo and Juliet_. It premieres in 2017 and features—you guessed it—a strong female lead. \[[Variety](http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/shonda-rhimes-mipcom-recipe-success-dumb-weak-women-1201892320/)\] Shonda Rhimes Explains Why She Has Strong Female Leads ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4534973/shonda-rhimes-strong-female-leads/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4534973/shonda-rhimes-strong-female-leads/"},"headline":"Shonda Rhimes Doesn't Know Any 'Dumb And Weak Women'","datePublished":"2016-10-18T17:30:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:37.305Z","description":"'I’m writing heroines who talk like my mothers, like my friends'","url":"https://time.com/4534973/shonda-rhimes-strong-female-leads/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaf20f916f466f0e/6988a04d196cf4030903ca6e/shonda-rhimes-dnc-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaf20f916f466f0e/6988a04d196cf4030903ca6e/shonda-rhimes-dnc-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"EMILY's List Breaking Through 2016 at the Democratic National Convention","caption":"Producer and writter Shonda Rhimes attends EMILY's List Breaking Through 2016 at the Democratic National Convention at Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.","creditText":"Paul Zimmerman—Getty Images For EMILY's List","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4534973/shonda-rhimes-strong-female-leads/","name":"Shonda Rhimes Doesn't Know Any 'Dumb And Weak Women'"}}]}] ```