What was endearingly feminine, and touching, about Mary Richards was how willingly she acceded to organizing her life around serving others. Always available for advice, or for babysitting, or for a hug, she was poised, graceful, content. She wasn’t interested in shattering barriers but in being nice.

Source: ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Gave Us a Feminine, Not a Feminist, Icon - Acculturated (Per the blog post just before this, perhaps "nice" is "feminine.")