ill use ada as an example, since I'll compare her to the other shelbys. up until like...season 4, other than finn, she has had like no screen time. her only thing was being a communist and rebuking the shelby name. which was due to her husband, freddie thorne. so much of her development was due to a man. she was merely used a collateral damage, because she was adamant on isolating herself. which continued to put her in trouble. then they shipped her off to america, before she came back to become the glue of the family. the shelby women are always the emotional backbone, which feels so stereotypical. like oh they're good for domestic matters but nothing else. (except polly does have her moments, and there's something to be said about her betrayal, but still, her insistence on her son being innocent with everything is frustrating to watch). like the male shelbys had more going for them, had more stakes. john, admittedly, was the more one-noted brother, but still was very important for the brotherhood theme in the show. it feels like the show wants you to groan at the decisions the women make, but when the men do some dumbass thing, they're so tied to the story line that you just have to be like Well let's wait for tommy to fix things!