Is “Lucy” feminist?

My boyfriend and I were having a discussion recently about "I Love Lucy", which is easily one of my favorite shows of all time.  We disagreed as to whether the show was an overall positive portrayal of women, or negative.

Considering that the show was produced in the 50s, when a married couple couldn’t even be shown in bed together and nobody ever said "pregnant" on tv, I feel that Lucy was had more feminist friendly aspects than not.  She was a very quick thinker, and rather rebellious.  She wasn’t content as a housewife alone, and wanted to get into show business.  Ricky usually tried to prevent her, which seemed somewhat unfounded.  Her horrible sounding voice was used for comedic effect, but when she would manage to make it into his show, she proved to be a talented at comedy sketches (i.e. the clown act with the cello).  Even with Ricky’s objections, she often outsmarted him and made it into the show anyway. There were sometimes problems that were no fault of her own that caused things to go awry, like getting her eyes dilated or the Vitameatavegamin containing a lot of alcohol, but these situations weren’t the result of a silly woman mistake, they were outside factors, and the humor was in how she reacted to them.

There were also a number of episodes that touched on male and female roles as well.  There was one where the men and women switched roles, with Lucy and Ethel getting jobs, while Ricky and Fred took care of the house.  The show ended up with the famous chocolates on the conveyor belt scene, indicated how inept Lucy and Ethel were at a job they weren’t remotely trained for.  However, back at the apartment, Ricky and Fred realize they have no idea how to take care of a house and cooking.  They realize that women’s "jobs" aren’t so easy either.

My boyfriend argued that Lucy was portrayed as childlike and her antics were used to make fun of her and her "woman mind."  She cries and whines when she can’t get what she wants and then tries to take it into her own hands, leaving Ricky to often bail her out.  Which I think could be valid points.  He also pointed out that I might be a little biased, because It’s a show I’ve loved since I was pretty young. 

So what do you think?  I think there are valid arguments on either side, but the show was overall more woman positive than not.

P.S.  I know I didn’t represent my bf’s side very well.  He’s actually a lurker and occasional commenter who might come out of the woodwork during the discussion to make up for my inability to play devil’s advocate against myself.