There’s a moment in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel—Amazon’s delightful new comedy from the creators of Gilmore Girls—where the main character, Miriam “Midge” Maisel, is stuck in front of a judge who’s threatening to hold her in contempt for disrespecting him in court. Faced with having to choose between staying behind bars and not being able to pick up her son from the babysitter, she succumbs to the man in power. “My behavior earlier today was irrational, irresponsible, and extremely disrespectful. I let my emotions get the better of me,” she says. “After all, I am a woman.”

Though the scene takes place in a mid-century courtroom, it still feels harshly relevant. It’s not a one-off moment, either: Throughout the eight-episode first season, about a 1950s Jewish housewife whose life is uprooted when her husband leaves her for his secretary, Midge is constantly confronting (male-driven) societal norms. And while at first glance, Midge’s character might come off as a stereotype—she doesn’t remove her makeup until her husband falls asleep, sneakily waking up to apply it before he gets up, and measures every part of her body to track her thinness—in reality she’s anything but. When her husband flies the coop, Midge (played to perfection by Rachel Brosnahan) takes matters into her own hands. She pursues her stand-up comedy career. She gets a job despite her mother’s aversion to women working and her father’s disbelief that she knows how to set up a bank account for her paychecks. She even finds a talent manager in Susie, played by Alex Borstein, who defiantly wears a newsboy cap, pantsuits, and suspenders. Susie, too, wants to forge her own path, and the two work hard together as a female duo in a man’s world.

Whenever there’s a chance for Midge to push back on the norms of the ’50s, she pushes—and hard. Midge may apologize to the judge for “being a woman,” but it’s so obviously a tactic to get out of her situation. She is, in fact, entirely unapologetic for who she is. Midge doesn’t think that being a woman makes her volatile in a bad way. No, it’s what makes her excellent—something we see in her stand-up sets. Her comedy persona falls in line with that of Joan Rivers, who, like Midge, started out performing at The Gaslight Café in New York’s Greenwich Village. Rivers’ early comedy didn’t follow a rule book and introduced the world to something unfamiliar: a defiant, funny, confident woman doesn’t need a man to be valuable or successful. And like Rivers, these traits carry over off the stage for Midge too. Rather than falling into a sad soon-to-be divorcee role, she focuses on reorganizing her life to fit her current circumstances. Be it 1958 or 2017, Midge is a modern woman—the kind of heroine we want to root for in an era when politicians (including our President) and Hollywood executives are trying to silence the force of the female.

In fact, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel feels so timely that it brings to mind another brilliant Amazon show about women who refuse to play along: Good Girls Revolt. The series, which featured a ridiculously relevant story of female journalists fighting for equality at Newsweek in 1969, was canceled last year despite receiving positive buzz and good ratings. The fact that it was axed just weeks after Hillary Clinton’s election defeat made the decision seem even more pointed. And while we still hold out hope that Good Girls Revolt will return in some form, Mrs. Maisel at least softens the blow. After all, the shows share similar DNA: They’re both smart television series about bold women from a bygone era that isn’t so different from today. (That’s not the only thing they have in common: Fans of both shows will recognize Erin Darke, who plays a friend of Midge’s and also starred as Cindy, a reporter and sexually frustrated wife on Good Girls.)

Like Good Girls, Mrs. Maisel shows us the inception of the fight against the patriarchy—even if Midge isn’t fully aware she’s leading the charge. But interwoven with these revolutionary moments, Mrs. Maisel offers something else we all want (and, honestly, need) from shows today: charming escapism. There’s creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s signature fast-talking a la Lorelai Gilmore, not to mention the cheekiness of a very specific type of humor that makes what could be a sad plot about a woman whose life is upended by her husband’s indiscretions a very funny and inspiring one. And, of course, classic music, gorgeous fashion, perfectly applied lipstick, and a candy-coated New York City social scene of martinis and fancy dinners to look forward to.

That blend of rebellion and sophistication is what makes Midge Maisel the kind of leading lady that TV needs right now. Though the show isn’t inherently political, it fits right in with the atmosphere that’s been simmering since the 2016 election. Midge’s fight against the patriarchy might take place in the ’50s comedy scene, but you could just as easily drop her in the 1969 Newsweek offices. Or at the 2017 Women’s March, for that matter. Midge is relevant because she reminds us to speak out, to keep pushing for what you want and, most importantly, for what you deserve—even if it’s not “the norm.” And if you want to do it all in a high-waisted flare skirt with a drink and a laugh, well, you do you.

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