CLPP Reproductive Justice Conference: “Whose Food Justice? OUR Food Justice” Workshop

Posted on April 18, 2012 by

This post is part of the series of posts on CLPP’s 2012 Reproductive Justice Conference.

Food justice is an integral aspect of social justice. Just as Katherine Cross in the Opening Plenary said, “A right is the recognition of your humanity.” Access to food – clean, fresh, organic, healthy, sustainable, and delicious – is a right we all deserve. As a feminist vegan, I was absolutely thrilled CLPP featured the workshop “Whose Food Justice? OUR Food Justice.”

The panel consisted of a farm intern, a grassroots organizer of food and community development and a fat acceptance and body image blogger.

Panelist J’vaughnii Karakashian is an intern at Urban Roots, an organization in Buffalo, New York “that strives to create healthy communities by providing access to healthy food.” He wanted to learn more about sustainable farming and the ways people would like to see the food industrial system change. At Urban Roots, a small farm relying on volunteers, they plant organic carrots, lettuce, potatoes, spinach, and cilantro. Urban Roots is interested in how we take care of the earth and take care of ourselves.

Karakashian succinctly summed up why food justice matters:

“Food justice is important because everyone deserves access to food.”

Continue reading →

Posted in CLPP Reproductive Justice 2012 Conference, Food & Gender, Food & Gender, Veganism, Women and Gender | 4 Comments

With a Complex Black Female Protagonist Created by a Black Female Showrunner, I’m Rooting for ‘Scandal’

Posted on April 17, 2012 by

Originally published at Bitch Flicks.

I love Grey’s Anatomy. Is it melodramatic? Absolutely. But it’s dramatic storylines, sharp dialogue and diverse cast have hooked me from the very first episode. So when I discovered writer, producer, showrunner Shonda Rhimes created Scandal, a political thriller TV series revolving around a woman of color, I knew I had to watch.

Kerry Washington (a feminist in real life…huzzah!) plays Olivia Pope, an assertive attorney who’s a “crisis management expert,” inspired by former George H.W. Bush administration press aide Judy Smith (who also happens to be a producer of the show). Olivia runs a small organization of lawyers who fix scandals and clean up messes like murder charges and infidelity. With a subtle and nuanced performance, Washington is definitely the best part of the series.

What’s so interesting (and fucking sad) is that Scandal is the only prime-time TV show on right now centering around an African American woman. And it’s the first network show with a black female lead in 30 years (that is horrifying). I’ve often heard Washington is a fantastic actor and she was great in the heartbreaking For Colored Girls. Here she commands the screen with confidence and poise. Olivia is an intelligent, successful and empowered woman. Others look up to her, revere her and even fear her shrewd insights and relentlessness to finish a job. She’s demanding, requiring her staff to pull all-nighters and enforcing rules like no crying in the office and not answering “I don’t know” to a question she asks. Powerful politicians turn to her for advice. She negotiates deals on her terms. While new employee Quinn (Katie Lowes) idolizes her, Olivia is far from a paragon of perfection. She’s vulnerable with a messy and complicated love life. She’s flawed, not always likeable (although I personally love her!) and uses Machiavellian tactics to complete a job. But this mélange makes her all the more interesting.

Washington was recently on The Melissa Harris-Perry Show (one of my absolute favorite feminist icons EVER!!!). She talked about inclusivity and how she and Harris-Perry, as two women of color on TV, are “expanding the idea of who ‘We the People’ is.” She also discussed playing a complex female character on-screen:

 “…When I read this script, I was so blown away by this woman who in one area of her life, in her professional life, she’s brilliant and sophisticated and in power. And then in her personal life she’s vulnerable and torn and confused. And I thought this is an incredible challenge for any actor. But we also don’t get to do that often — as women in this business, as people of color in this business — to have all of that complexity to explore.”

And she’s right. We too often don’t see complex women, especially women of color, on-screen.

I loved the political intrigue and the focus on a single, accomplished, career-driven woman. And of course how could I not be delighted that Henry Ian Cusick (aka dreamy Desmond from LOST) has found a new series. I was thrilled that the show opens from Quinn’s perspective, taking a job with Olivia because of her reverence for her stellar reputation. I also loved that within the first 7 minutes, a character derided a potential client because he was an anti-choice, anti-gay Republican. While many people assume the media suffers from a liberal bias, too few shows actually discuss abortion or LGBTQ issues.

While most of it is good, some of the dialogue felt a bit staged or forced. I cringed when Olivia body polices and chastises new employee Quinn for displaying too much cleavage and when Abby (Darby Stanchfield), one of Olivia’s employees, gleefully calls a female murder victim a whore…and drops the whore word a few more times in the next episode too.

While there are several female characters (none of whom are really fleshed out yet beyond Olivia), most of the time they’re interacting with men. Although Olivia does have conversations with a young woman who claims is having an affair with the president (Olivia’s former boss) and with the wife of a Supreme Court nominee. No strong female friendships emerge yet. But we’re only 2 episodes into the series. Female friendships comprise the cores of Rhimes’ other shows, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. So I’m hopeful that we’ll see more female interaction as the series progresses.

Much like its complicated protagonist, the series isn’t perfect yet. But it’s got potential. I’m rooting for it because we can never have too many sharp political dramas. And we can never have too many female leads, especially with women of color.

Scandal is a big deal. Not only do we have a woman of color protagonist, we have a series written and created by a woman of color. With Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal, Rhimes belongs “in an elite group of TV show runners who have multiple series on the air at the same time.” In each of Rhimes’ television shows, she puts women at the forefront. While she has held open casting calls for all ethnicities and has African American, Latina, Asian American and white women in her shows, she’s never had a series revolve around a woman of color. Until now.

In an Essence interview, Kerry Washington said she felt “lucky” to be a woman of color in Hollywood right now:

“I think it’s a really special time to be a woman of color in this business. The landscape of who has the power is changing. We are in more influential positions and are able to have a say in the stories that are told. I feel very lucky to be in the business now…”

But The Grio’s Veronica Miller asserts that it’s hard to have faith in “Hollywood’s relationship with black actresses:”

“It will be easier when black actresses become more visible in roles across the spectrum, (think fantasy hits like Harry Potter, or romantic dramas like The Notebook) and not just ones that call for an African-American female.”

Racialicious’ Kendra James points out the pressure TV shows like Scandal with black leads face:

“It’s risky for a network that depends on millions of viewers for advertising revenue to cast a lead that the majority of viewers (read: white people) may not relate to. While a show like Pan Am (fondly known as Carefree White Girls Explore the Third World) can fail to take off without consequence, it feels, at times, as if the fate of every black actor and actress on television rides on the success or failure of one show each season.”

Here at Bitch Flicks, we talk a lot about the need for more women in film and TV, in front of and behind the camera. Women comprise only 15% of TV writers and 41%-43% of TV roles are female. But we also desperately need more women of color.

In a time when a Trayvon Martin was shot for being a young black man wearing a hoodie…when racist Hunger Games fans can’t empathize with a black character in the film adaptation…when accomplished and ridiculously talented black female actors like Viola Davis have a hard time finding roles…when black female actors must play either maids or drug addicts or sassy best friends…when female actors of color get sidelined from the cover of Vanity Fair — our society tells people of color over and over and over again implicitly and explicitly that their bodies and their lives don’t matter.

It’s time to change that. It’s time for our media to stop revolving around white men’s stories and reflect the diversity of our world.

Posted in Race, TV, Women and Gender | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

CLPP Reproductive Justice Conference: Speaking Out for Reproductive Freedom Opening Plenary

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

So on Saturday at 9am, I was ready to kick off my weekend of badass repro and social justice at the CLPP From Abortion Rights to Social Justice Conference!!! In the Opening Plenary, speakers shared their experiences, struggles, activism and passions. Tk karakshian tunchez, Denise Larocque and Mariposa and the a capella group Crazy Pitches, sang music uplifting my spirits, ready to let the speakers’ inspirational words wash over me and seep into my soul.

Without further ado, let’s dive in to what these amazing activists had to say:

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Marlene Gerber Fried, CLPP Faculty Director rallied us to action:

“So I always come to you full of anger…but I also come to you to turn terror & fury into hope.”

“People tell us to pick our battles, not to pick fights you can’t win…but sometimes you just have to do it. We are called to turn that terror and fury to inspiration and ACTION! Resist. Fight injustice everywhere. Pick your battles? I won’t go there…It’s about turning terror and fury into inspiration and hope.”

Quoting the movie Network summed up her feelings on anti-choice attacks:

“We are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.”

Gerber Fried talked about the all-male panel on contraception. Ugh, such bullshit: 

“Even the mainstream have discovered there’s a war on women. And you’re probably wondering where they’ve been all this time.”

“Don’t rely on the politicians. It’s up to us.” Refuse to allow others who do not care about women to dictate the battlegrounds.

“…It’s death because women’s lives are not yet seen. This is death by patriarchy…”

“Whose lives are on the line?…The battleground is always someone’s body.”

She reminds us the importance of coalition-building and intersectionality:

“Audre Lorde reminds us there’s no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

She talked about how the Occupy Movement is (or should be) about decolonialization:

“We’re going to take inspiration from all the freedom fighters around the world.”

And finally, a call to action:

“That alarm is finally so loud we cannot ignore how we got here.”

“Understand how we got here so we can really change the course…We cannot whisper our truths. We must yell our truths. Tell our truths everywhere.”

Katie McKay Bryson, Acting Director, PopDev, talked about the intersection of environmental and reproductive justice. People talk about 7 billion and say overpopulation is “just math” but it’s not true. It’s not that simple. This is not the way to build a movement, around fear of a population of 7 billion.

“Women’s education tied to how many children they should be having and when. There’s nothing revolutionary about that…To tie women’s empowerment to the need to stop population growth I say, ‘Please stop.’”

Women of color have been sterilized without their consent for generations.

“When someone says something is dangerous, unethical…where is it legislated?…When we overlook that language of overpopulation…these are the stories we are actually invoking.”

Tying environmentalism, food and security together:

“I want to fight at your side but I am not willing to turn my back on so many people’s lived experiences.”

Julieta Paredes Carvajal, Co-Founder, Mujeres Creando and the Communitarian Feminist Assembly, poetically described women’s bodies and reproductive rights:

“Sisters, what are we going to do with these bodies. These bodies which are not virtual but real.”

“Menstrual blood from the earth our mothers and grandmothers that feeds us. It’s the moment, sisters, that moment that the women’s bodies are going to decide.”

“With our bodies, the bodies that are real, we are going to occupy…Our bodies that are not going to be decorated like turkeys for patriarchy to eat them. Our bodies that are real, not virtual. We are going to block capitalism, block the streets.

“It’s time to question how language confuses us. We aren’t talking reproductive rights. We’re talking about creative rights, the right to create.”

“And, sisters, the community. We are left, as a feminist movement, as a women’s movement, in a corner and an issue or problem. No, we are half of all people and issues. Women are half of hopes, solutions, and half of the revolution.”

“And finally for the young ones, we leave our commitment, our testimony and our hope for years to come.”

Leticia Contreras, CLPP student group member, did an activity where we all stood up, talking about “cardinal directions and respective visions.” She said:

 “How we treat the land is how we treat our bodies…Let us guide the way with linked arms of awareness.”

Kimberly Jeffrey, Justice Now, discussed connection between prison reform and reproductive justice about how she was incarcerated for years for petty theft. She was asked to undergo forced sterilization in order to get her child back. Her oppression catalyzed her to now advocate for prison reform.

She told her heart-breaking story of reproductive injustice in the California prisons and her forced tubal ligation. She was told to sign a form she didn’t fully understand. Coerced and pressured – she said she needed more time to assess her options and decide. But her wishes were brushed aside as she was told the procedure was perfectly “safe.”

“CDC, Dept of Correction, these are the real offenders, who repeatedly offended me by repeatedly denying me right to my identity.”

Jeffrey asserted it’s about controlling reproduction and trying to reduce number of children born to those on public assistance. Many believe the horrifying mantra, “If you can’t feed them, don’t breed them.” Jeffrey said:

“The prison industrial complex is a basic tool of reproductive oppression.”

W. Brandon Lacy Campos, Co-Executive Director for Queers for Economic Justice, discussed how HIV/AIDS is a crucial part of the reproductive justice framework. He said as a male, it’s his duty with his privilege to defend right to abortion. – Fuck yeah!!

Lacy Campos reminded us all that we must incorporate HIV into our reproductive justice work:

“Let me be clear: HIV isn’t over. HIV affects your work…it doesn’t only affect white gay men. Women of color are the fastest growing number.”

Advocating for the rights of people living with HIV, he said:

“The right to live full happy sexy lives with or without families is the right of every person living and thriving w/HIV.”

Sara Berk & Marianna Luna, CLPP Student Group members, discussed reproductive rights and activism.

Luna connected racism and reproductive rights:

“How women’s reproductive rights become a breeding ground for racist ideologies.”

Berk talked activism and being inclusive:

“Take your enthusiasm and bring it to someone outside of the conference…It’s about making activist spaces open & welcoming to everyone.”

Mia Mingus of Generation FIVE talked about childhood sexual violence and transformative justice:

“We’re committed to ending childhood sexual violence because it’s connected to all different forms of violence. Child sexual abuse is one of the first ways that people at very young ages learn about power and control…It’s the building blocks of oppression.”

Mingus discussed accountability:

“The state isn’t going to magically be accountable to us…How can we demand that the state be accountable when we’re not even accountable to each other?”

She talked about the value of how we treat each other:

“All the best analysis is worthless if we don’t treat each other well…we need each other.”

Katherine Cross, Board Member, Sylvia Rivera Law Project, eloquently advocated for transgender women and justice. She defined what a right is:

“So just what is a right?…Something that you can touch taste live & breathe…A right is the recognition of your humanity…A right requires justice in order to be exercised. A right just on paper is no right at all.”

Cross talked about how trans rights are reproductive rights:

“If a trans woman cannot change her name, she loses rights that she supposedly has….If a trans woman must be sterilized to change her gender, where are HER reproductive rights?!”

“We have our bodies policed by those who think they know how to manage our lives better than we do. Sound familiar?”

Thanu Yakupitiyage, Occupy Wall Street, People of Color Working Group, talked about the Dream Act, racism and immigrant populations. She started with a call and response with the audience. “What do we want?” “Justice!” When do we want it?? “NOW!”

Since President Obama has been in office, over one million deportations have occurred.

“People after migrate because of the laws dictated by the United States…So often immigrant populations are pitted against each other for access to resources.”

Since Arizona’s heinous anti-immigration law, 24 states have introduced anti-immigration legislation. She discussed the Dream Act:

“No matter what legislators do, young migrators will be loud and they are not going away.”

Yakupitiyage rightfully asserted that people of color shouldn’t be marginalized in movements:

“People of color and immigrants must be at the center of organizing, not pushing their way in from the margins…The only way I will continue to support the Occupy movement is when the movement owns up to its racist marginalization.”

She talked about the tragic death of Trayvon Martin and institutionalized racism:

“While there is uproar over the death of Trayvon Martin we have seen this death over and over again…It’s not about hoodies or Skittles. It’s about showing that black bodies and people of color are of little value to the state…We live in a society where racial profiling and surveillance has become a norm.”

“How do we be intentional about occupying without first decolonizing?…And good god, where do we even start when we’re so overwhelmed.”

Courtney Hooks, PopDev Alumni Fellow said there are more black men incarcerated now than were enslaved in 1850 (WTF?!). And more and more trans women are being locked up. Hooks said:

“There’s a lot of things keeping people from being in this room right now and we need to think about that.”

Hooks also articulated the power of the conference:

“We are on to something here. This many people don’t come together in one room for no reason.”

Echoing that sentiment, one of the speakers in the Opening Plenary said, “If you’re not sure you have a place here, I assure you, you do.” THAT is why I adore the CLPP Conference! I have never felt such a surge of inspiration in a nurturing, welcoming environment, bringing diverse people together united in their passion for social justice.

Read my other posts on CLPP’s 2012 Reproductive Justice Conference.

Posted in CLPP Reproductive Justice 2012 Conference, Reproductive Rights, Women and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Off to CLPP 2012 Conference “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom”

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

It’s that time of year again…time to head to Western Mass for the 26th Annual  Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) Conference: “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” With over 150 speakers and 75 workshops, it’s a 3-day conference held at Hampshire College sponsored by CLPP and Population and Development programs. Activists, writers, students, professors and leaders will discuss strategies for enacting social change to ensure reproductive justice.

From CLPP’s website:

[The conference] will highlight successful examples of activism and discuss how struggles for reproductive and sexual rights are intricately linked to movements for economic, social, and environmental justice. Topics of workshops and strategic action sessions include abortion access in the U.S. and internationally, climate justice, anti-foreclosure activism, media making and storytelling, the politics of population control, and organizing around the 2012 elections.

20-week abortion bans, mandatory transvaginal ultrasound laws, personhood laws, slutshaming, contraception restricitions — we’ve never seen such an incessant barrage of attacks on reproductive justice at the federal and state levels. It’s important to arm ourselves with information and connect with other feminists so we can return to our communities, ready to take a stand.

I went last year for the first time. I was absolutely blown away to be surrounded by such motivated and inspiring activists in a nurturing environment. It rejuvenated my activism with renewed vigor.

Can’t make it to the conference??  No worries…follow along as I’ll be live-tweeting and blogging from the conference all weekend starting Friday evening.  You can read my posts here or follow my live-tweets at @OpinionessWorld. You can also follow all the tweets from the CLPP Conference at #CLPP2012.

So whether you’re attending the conference or following along virtually, get ready for a weekend of feminist badassery!

Posted in CLPP Reproductive Justice 2012 Conference, Reproductive Rights, Women and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Actor Ashley Judd Takes On Bodysnarking Media

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

Originally published at Bitch Flicks.

After media speculation over her allegedly “puffy face” caused a “viral media frenzy,” actor Ashley Judd decided to speak out against the media’s misogynistic accusations. Beyond her career as an actor, Judd is a humanitarian and philanthropist, a global ambassador for YouthAIDS and a Harvard graduate. The feminist activist — who dialogues about rape culture and proudly supports reproductive justice — confronted sexism, patriarchy and the media’s incessant scrutiny of women’s faces and bodies. In Judd’s must-read post for The Daily Beast, she writes:

“The Conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted.”

Love, love, LOVE this!! I mean, who the hell cares if an actor has gained weight?? Judd shouldn’t have to justify or defend her appearance. The media needs to cease the destructive commentaries and obsessive deconstruction of women’s bodies, debating whether or not a celeb has gained weight or had plastic surgery. And don’t even get me started on those god awful “baby bump patrols” in the tabloids. Bleh.

Controlling women’s bodies consumes our sexist and ageist society. Women obsess over their appearance because they see unhealthy and unrealistic depictions of female actors and models in film, TV, magazines and on billboards. Photoshopped faces and bodies saturate the media, creating unattainable images of beauty. We’re supposed to wax and tweeze body hair, slather on age-defying creams, diet and exercise curves into submission. Between diet books, exercise DVDs, weight loss shakes, low-fat foods – the dieting industry is a money-making juggernaut. And it’s geared towards women. On the flip side, the media chastises women for being too bony or thin. The media constantly dissects, critiques and polices women’s bodies.

In her Daily Beast article, Judd also succinctly defines patriarchy, reminding us that men aren’t the sole perpetrators of sexism. Women are too:

“That women are joining in the ongoing disassembling of my appearance is salient. Patriarchy is not men. Patriarchy is a system in which both women and men participate. It privileges, inter alia, the interests of boys and men over the bodily integrity, autonomy, and dignity of girls and women. It is subtle, insidious, and never more dangerous than when women passionately deny that they themselves are engaging in it.”

Judd couldn’t be more spot on. Patriarchy puts the needs of white men and boys first. Patriarchy silences and constrains women and girls yet makes them culprits in policing other women’s bodies and behavior. Women need to stop tearing down other women.

It’s interesting Judd’s patriarchy media manifesto comes out right after some asshole critics deemed Jennifer Lawrence’s body too fat, too curvy and not emaciated enough to play Hunger Games’ Katniss from the starving and impoverished District 12.

The NY Times’ Mahnola Dargis claimed “her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission,”Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy commented on her “lingering baby fat,” Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells accuses Lawrence of being “big-boned” and “seems too big for Hutcherson” as male romantic partners should at least be as tall as their female counterparts (I shit you not).

Thankfully, others like Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood, Slate’s L.V. Anderson, LA Times’ Alexandra Le Tellier, LA Times’ Patrick Goldstein, as well as many others have called out this bullshit bodysnarking. Jennifer Lawrence, who chose not to diet for the role (good for her), has also apparently laughed off the media’s criticism of her body.

And of course there’s been an onslaught of racist commentary surrounding Rue. Her character’s innocence and purity and the audience’s ability to empathize with her apparently went out the window the minute racist filmgoers saw a black girl.

Sophia Savage for Thompson on Hollywood points out that audiences called Kate Winslet “too fat” for the 3-D rerelease of Titanic. Winslet “responded that she’s now thinner than co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.” Winslet has spoken out about her weight and body image before, particularly her disdain for magazines’ overzealous photoshopping to make her look unrealistically thin. And I remember when Titanic originally premiered in 1997, audiences and film critics taunted Winslet’s weight. Clearly some things don’t change. Sigh.

But cruel commentary on women’s appearances isn’t just reserved for those in Hollywood. And not everyone can just shrug off the media’s mockery. Conservative pundits Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham as well as others in the media have skewered columnist and blogger Meghan McCain for her weight and appearance. McCain said that it’s as if “all women in the media should lose a bunch of weight if they want to go on television to talk about anything.” She admitted she’s seen a therapist because of the media’s “really weird reaction” to her body. Omg I don’t blame her…I freak out when someone doesn’t like one of my blog posts! And of course I’ll never forget the horrific misogynistic dissection of both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin (their clothes, hair, bodies, faces, sexiness) during the 2008 presidential election.

We don’t see this level of relentless scrutiny and bodysnarking of male bodies. Women and girls are continually held up to unattainable toxic beauty standards, punished and criticized if they transgress these warped norms. A positive body image eludes many of us as a result. We can be anything we dream of, so long as we’re thin and sexy…and of course “sexy” means white women with long-flowing hair. Society continually places importance on womens’ and girls’ appearances over their merit and intellect, reducing us to sex objects. The media tells us our value and self-worth reside in our beauty.

We’re teaching future generations to wage war with their bodies. Nearly half of all 3- to 6-year-old girls worry about being fat and “eating disorders having risen steadily in children and teens over the last few decades.” According to the documentary Miss Representation, the average age of plastic surgery is 17 years old. Girls internalize self-hatred. They grow up thinking they must alter and transform their appearance in order to achieve acceptance and happiness.

Having met Ashley Judd on a few occasions, I can say she is every bit as impassioned in person as she appears in-print or on-screen. We need more celebs — like Judd, Geena Davis, Kerry Washington, Martha Plimpton, Margaret Cho, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Roseanne Barr — who are outspoken staunch feminists, unafraid to call out sexist bullshit. We all need to challenge the media’s misogynistic attacks on women’s bodies.

Posted in Body Image, Films, TV, Women and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bowling for Abortion Access! Only 1 Day Left to Donate to My EMA Fund Triathlon Team and 1 Day Until Triathlon Celebration!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by

Only 1 day left!!! 1 day left to fundraise and 1 day until the Eastern Massachusetts Abortion (EMA) Fund’s 2nd annual Triathlon!

If you read my blog regularly (c’mon, you know you want to!) or follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you know I’m fundraising for reproductive justice. Under the team name “The Opinionators,” I’m raising money for EMA Fund’s Triathlon, a part of the National Abortion Access Bowl-a-Thon. With only 1 day left, please give, give, give!

And of course we have to celebrate!! I mean that’s how we feminists roll. Below are the Triathlon details:

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
5:00pm-9:00pm
at Milky Way in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

There will be Wii bowling, karaoke, raffles, prizes, and feminist repro justice mingling!!

Reproductive rights are human rights. Abortion is healthcare. No one has the right to tell you what to do with your own body. Everyone has the right to shape their own life and decide what’s right for them. And no one should ever be turned away from receiving medical care due to an inability to pay.

Filling the gap between healthcare and accessibility, the EMA Fund is an all-volunteer group of approximately 60 people working tirelessly to ensure people have access to abortion. They provide grants, financial counseling, emergency contraception, options counseling, childcare during abortion procedures, translation services, and transportation costs (bus, train tickets, cab fare) to clinics.

What will my donation fund?

  • $4 – Round-trip T fare from Somerville to Brighton
  • $20 – Lack of reliable transit: cab fare from Beverly to Lynn
  • $40 – The need to travel out of state: bus fare to New York City
  • $50 – Blood type: RhoGAM shot for women with RH negative blood
  • $100 – Someone to talk to: EMA Fund’s average monthly phone bill
  • $500 – Average cost of a first trimester abortion in Boston

Please click here if you would like to make a donation!

Whatever you can give will seriously make a tremendous difference. Thank you!!!

Posted in Reproductive Rights, Women and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘The Walking Dead’ and Gender: Why I’m Skeptical the Addition of Badass Michonne Will Change the TV Series’ Retro Sexism

Posted on April 10, 2012 by

Originally published at Bitch Flicks.

Warning: if you haven’t seen Seasons 1 and 2 of The Walking Dead, there are spoilers ahead.

Have you ever dated someone because of their potential rather than what she/he/ze brings to the table? Or is that just me?? Well, that’s how I feel about AMC’s The Walking Dead.

While I like the show, I keep watching the zombie apocalypse, based on the comic books, because I keep hoping and expecting it to become great – especially when it comes to the female characters and the show’s sexist portrayal of gender roles.

The conservative characters continually depict retro gender norms. The men talk about protecting the women. The women cook and clean while the men go off and hunt or protect the camp or farm. Yes, Andrea is the exception to the rule. She shoots and kills zombies and patrols the perimeter.  But the women take a backseat to the men. They let the men debate, argue, decide.

I criticized Game of Thrones, a show I adore, for its misogyny. But at least it contains strong, intelligent and powerful female characters. Where the hell are they on The Walking Dead???

Which is why I’m so excited about the introduction of Michonne.

In Season 2’s record-breaking finale, Andrea (Laurie Holden) is rescued by a katana-wielding, hooded woman holding two chained, jawless, armless zombies. It was probably the best introduction I’ve ever witnessed. Ever. And that mystery woman would be Michonne. Not only am I delighted to see another female character. But the show so desperately needs another badass woman.

For those who haven’t read the comics (like me), Michonne, who will be played by Danai Gurira (who’s simply amazing in The Visitor and Treme) seems to be a strong, powerful, complex character. She’s clever since she has the two incapacitated walkers in order to seek out the living. She appears to be a fierce and fearless survivor. But what’s even more exciting is that she’s a woman of color.

Yet I’m skeptical as the show hasn’t done a great job portraying gender so far.

Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) does whatever Rick (Andrew Lincoln), her husband and leader of the group, says, blindly and unquestioningly standing by him. Carol (Melissa McBride), who’s keeping it together pretty well considering she’s lost her daughter and her husband, still clings to men, first her abusive husband Ed and now Daryl (Norman Reedus), who tell her what to do. The writers squandered the opportunity to explore a domestic violence survivor rather than making her a caricature. When we first meet Maggie (Lauren Cohan), she’s riding in on a horse, bashing a Walker (aka zombie) with a baseball bat. She started off so fierce, spunky and sexually assertive. It’s just unfortunate she’s unraveling, a hysterical mess who seems to cling to her BF Glenn (Steven Yeun) for protection.

The only glimmer of a bright spot is Andrea, one of my favorite characters. A tough survivor, she’s one of the best shots and guards the camp. She did try to commit suicide, despondent after her sister died. But she’s become determined to live. She’s smart, questions the status quo, and has become more assertive, unafraid to voice her opinion. Even though she’s the only one, I’m glad SOMEBODY questions the ridiculous gender nonsense.

In the very first episode in Season 1, there’s a flashback depicting Rick and Shane joking about gender differences. When Rick confides that he’s having marital problems, he tells Shane that Lori accused him of “not caring about his family in front of” their son Carl. And then Rick (who I actually like a lot) says:

“The difference between men and women? I would never say something that cruel to her.”

Wow, so we’re treated to gender essentialism and a lovely tidbit that women are cruel, heartless shrews all in the first episode. This is definitely an omen of things to come.

In “Tell It To the Frogs,” Andrea, Amy, Carol, Jacqui wash laundry in a lake. As the women work, they see the men splashing around enjoying themselves. Andrea, the only one with any common sense and a spark of strength, asks:

 ”I’m really beginning to question the division of labor around here. Can someone explain to me how the women ended up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?”

YES!! Love this! How about maybe they rotate chores. Or what if (radical idea here) some of the men wanted to cook or clean? The women proceed to bond over missing their washing machines and vibrators. But then the frivolity is cut short by Carol’s abusive husband Ed who threatens the women and then slaps Carol.

While the women try to defend her, Shane steps in and starts beating the shit out of him, getting out all his aggression and frustration about Lori spurning him. So even though Shane warns Ed that he better not ever lay a hand on Carol or Sophia, he’s not acting out of nobility or the belief that men shouldn’t abuse women. Not surprising as this is the same douchebag who later tries to rape Lori and then brushes it off when she confronts him about it.

Talking about women in post-apocalyptic genres, Balancing Jane asserts that while strong women exist, it’s the men who rescue them and allow them their strength:

“[The Walking Dead goes out of its] way to demonstrate that those women had to first be saved by a righteous man. In order for women to become competent and determined, a man had to first stand up and make a space for them. Until a man appeared as savior, the women were doomed to be physically overpowered and sexually exploited.”

Men continually deny women power and autonomy. Dale takes Andrea’s gun away from her (“What Lies Ahead”) like she’s a child, backed up by rapist Shane. So a grown-ass woman shouldn’t have a gun but Carl, an ELEVEN-year-old can carry one! Oh but the little woman can’t be trusted. Ugh. Dale also comments on Andrea and Maggie’s sex lives. Speaking of Carl and guns…Lori voices her opposition for her son shooting yet no one listens to her concerns. When Lori discovers she’s pregnant, Glenn scolds her for not taking her vitamins as if she doesn’t know how to care for herself. Gee thanks, Glenn, it’s not like she’s never been pregnant before.

And then of course there’s the infamous abortion/emergency contraception storyline in “Secrets.” After Lori discovers she’s pregnant, she asks Glenn to obtain medication from the pharmacy for her to terminate her pregnancy (which she admits she’s not sure if it will work). But EC is contraception, doesn’t terminate an existing pregnancy and must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex or failed contraception. RU-486, which does terminate an existing pregnancy, has to be procured from a doctor, not a pharmacy.

Jezebel, Slate, ACLU and many others wrote about this episode and the myths it perpetuates. Of course showrunner Glenn Mazzara brushed off the criticism saying the writers took “artistic creative license” and he “hopes people aren’t turning to the fictional world of The Walking Dead for medical advice.” Well of course people shouldn’t be. But the media influences people’s perceptions, including medicine and abortion. There’s so much misinformation swirling around abortion and contraception. And it’s this misinformation that anti-choicers use to their advantage.

If ever there was a time for a show to depict a pregnant character having an abortion…yeah, I think a zombie apocalypse would be it. But it’s strange that this abortion/contraception arc occurs in the same episode where people are debating the zombies in the barn and what constitutes life.

But it’s the reaction of those around Lori that most disturbs me. Rick screams at Lori for even thinking about terminating the pregnancy. After Maggie and Glenn return from the pharmacy (granted, they’ve just been attacked by zombies), Maggie chucks the pills at Lori saying, “Here’s your abortion pills!” So not only does Lori not turn to another woman for help (turning to Glenn instead), but Maggie yells at her for her reproductive choice. As Bitch Magazine blogger Katherine Don writes:

“When reproductive choices are navigated by a stereotyped character and manhandled by scriptwriters who don’t recognize a woman’s ability to weight options and make decisions, the woman is robbed of her individuality, humanity and dignity.”

 Beyond their “individuality, humanity and dignity,” the women are also robbed of their voice. In “Judge, Jury, Executioner,” the group congregate in the farmhouse to discuss the fate of captured Randall. While Dale vehemently opposes the decision to execute him, he’s the only one he speaks up. Eventually, Andrea, who was a civil rights lawyer before pre-walkers, voices her opinion that Dale’s right. Lori, who opposes the death penalty, says nothing, almost always blindly agreeing with Rick. But the worst comes when Carol says she wants no part of the decision and wants them to decide it for her. Excuse me?? You want to forget all about making the hard decisions and just sit back, letting others decide for you??

I’m so fucking tired of the writers silencing the women.

The show’s treatment of race and heteronormativity isn’t a whole lot better. Why does the one black man (what happened to Morgan and his son from Season 1??) have to be silent for most episodes and have a ridiculous name like T-Dog? Where are the LGBTQ characters? What does it say about a show where the most interesting and complex character is a racist?? Yep, sad to say but Daryl’s my favorite. Why do we have to keep hearing racist Asian jokes? Why did Jacqui, the one black woman on the show, have to kill herself??

We see female empowerment continually stripped away. Lori seems to be the worst perpetrator of gender stereotypes and reinforcing hyper-masculinity. Glenn tells Maggie that he was distracted shooting at the bar because all he could think about was her. When Maggie confesses this in “18 Miles Out,” Lori in her infinite wisdom tells her that she should let “the men do their man-work” and that it’s women’s jobs to support the men. Oh yeah, she also says, “Tell him to man up.” Gee thanks, Lori. Swell advice. So men aren’t allowed to be emotional or sentimental. Only women.

Later, Lori, on another anti-feminist tirade (!!!), scolds Andrea for burdening the other women by not cooking and cleaning. Lori says Andrea should leave the other work for the men, like a good little woman, don’t ya know. What. The. Fuck. When Andrea says that she contributes to the group by offering protection and keeping watch (which she does), Lori blurts out,

“You sit up on that RV working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap.”

 I’m sorry, did the zombipocalypse also signal a rip in the fabric of time where The Walking Dead characters now live in fucking 1955?! So Lori, women shouldn’t be “playing” with guns or hunting for food or protecting the camp. Nope. Women are only good for domestic duties like cooking, cleaning and child-rearing. Leave the tough stuff to the men. Silly me for forgetting. Thank god Andrea told Lori and her bullshit off. Maybe Lori’s just jealous of Andrea’s skills since Lori can’t drive a car without flipping it into a ditch.

While blaming it on Lori’s “irrational behavior” due to her pregnancy and “going through a lot of stuff” (um, aren’t they all?), writer and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman ultimately defends this exchange and the show’s depiction of traditional gender roles:

 “Lori is really just aggravated over a lot of things and she’s lashing out. She was serious and she wants Andrea to pull her weight; certain people are stuck with certain tasks and to a certain extent people are retreating back into traditional gender roles because of how this survival-crazy world seems to work.”

So I’m really supposed to believe that when the zombie shit hits the fan, we’re all going to take a time warp? And why the fuck is it a woman, the wife of the leader of the group, who keeps spouting sexist bullshit?!

The horror genre often makes commentaries on humanity vs. brutality. Yet Kirkman clearly doesn’t care about making a social commentary on gender. And to a point that’s fine – not everything must possess some deep message. But there’s no reason the opposite couldn’t be true – an apocalypse spurring egalitarian rather than “traditional” gender roles.

All of the survivors have endured unspeakable horrors, witnessing the slaughter of their loved ones. People react differently to tragedy, some will come unhinged while others grow stronger. And wielding a gun isn’t necessarily synonymous with strength. But why must we constantly see a rearticulation of sexist gender stereotypes? Do people actually think this sexism is justified because they erroneously think we live in a post-feminist society?? When it comes to genres like horror, fantasy and scif-fi, writers can imagine any world they wish. Why imagine a sexist one? Why is everyone on the show struggling to maintain white male patriarchy??

We haven’t witnessed a fierce woman in any leadership role yet. With the arrival of Michonne, I’m finally truly excited about The Walking Dead. I’m hopeful that the writers can still turn things around. With Michonne and Lauren Cohan who plays Maggie promoted to series regular, some speculate “Season 3 is shaping up to be a big one for the ladies.” But I’m still skeptical. Michonne has a lot to do to erase the stench of sexist bullshit contaminating the show.

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‘Our Hen House’ Contest: Why It’s Unethical to Eat Meat

Posted on April 7, 2012 by

Why is it unethical to eat meat? That’s the question posed by Our Hen House, one of my fave vegan animal rights blogs. Run by fabulous vegan lesbian feminists Jasmin Singer (I heard her speak at Vida Vegan Con…she’s seriously amazeballs!) and Mariann Sullivan, they’re sponsoring a contest: “Calling All Herbivores: Tell Us Why It’s Unethical to Eat Meat.” They ask vegans to submit a short essay, in 600 words or less, “why it’s unethical to eat meat.”

The essays will be judged by vegan culinary goddess Isa Chandra Moskowitz along with Singer and Sullivan. The winning essay(s) will be published at Our Hen House and the winner will receive a signed copy of one of Moskowitz’ cookbooks.

Our Hen House’s contest was spurred by The New York Times’ contest, “Calling All Carnivores: Tell Us Why It’s Ethical to Eat Meat.” Columnist Ariel Kaminer writes:

“In recent years, vegetarians — and to an even greater degree vegans, their hard-core inner circle — have dominated the discussion about the ethics of eating…In response, those who love meat have had surprisingly little to say.”

In response to Kaminer’s statement that vegans have dominated the discussion on ethical eating, Singer writes:

“Well, I guess that’s true, to the extent that there has been any discussion, which, in fact, most meat-eaters generally avoid at all costs. Indeed, meat-eaters seem to be very comfortable interrogating us as to why we eat the way we do, but never seem to feel it’s necessary to explain why scarfing down a dead tortured animal is defensible.”

I have to say, I agree. While I enjoy dialoguing about veganism, I loathe when some meat-eaters grill me on my way of life – as if they’re trying to disprove my logic or that my eating vegan is an affront to them, or some such nonsense – but don’t tell me why they choose to eat carcasses.

Meat-eaters can argue culture and tradition, as well as advocate for humane treatment of animals and eradicating factory farms, all of which Kaminer points out. And people need to choose what’s right for them, including what to put in their bodies. But perhaps they’ve had “little to say” on the ethics of meat-eating specifically because it’s difficult (some say impossible) to argue the ethics of killing animals and eating tortured animals, especially when people have a choice. And I emphasize choice because not all communities have access to a plethora of non-meat food sources (Indigenous communities living in the Arctic, for example, although they do eat berries, tubers, grass and seaweed).

Veganism is predicated on compassionate consumption. Making choices every day – what to eat, what to wear, what to slather on skin – rooted in a philosophy of kindness towards animals and the planet.

Our Hen House‘s DEADLINE is TOMORROW, Sunday, April 8th. Email entries to contest@ourhenhouse.org.

So c’mon vegans…hurry up and get writing!!

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Rihanna Might Not Care What You Think About Her Contact with Chris Brown But It Affects Perceptions of Domestic Violence

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

You might have been pissed Rihanna reunited with Chris Brown professionally (I know I was) or that rumors about their romantic reunion continue to swirl. But Rihanna’s not apologizing for getting back in touch (and staying in touch) with her ex-boyfriend and domestic violence abuser. She’s going to do what she pleases.

In May’s issue of Elle, Rihanna talks about the “backlash over their reconciliation:”

“The bottom line is that everyone thinks differently. It’s very hard for me to accept, but I get it. People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that’s all right. Because tomorrow I’m still going to be the same person. I’m still going to do what I want to do.”

As a domestic violence survivor, I’m worried about the message Rihanna’s decision to get back in touch with Brown sends.

Now, I rarely say celebs must be role models. Rihanna is her own person and of course can do as she wishes. But her reunion with Brown saddens me. Young people have grown up watching their abusive relationship unfold. We live in a rape culture normalizing and glorifying violence against women. Going a step further, Rihanna’s choice might reinforce the notion that domestic violence isn’t really a big deal, cementing the trivialization of partner abuse.

In the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 women has been sexually assaulted and 1 in 4 women will face domestic violence in her lifetime. Society often shames and blames victims of rape and domestic violence. But people don’t bring violence on themselves. Abusers are the ones to blame, not survivors. Domestic violence isn’t just something that occurs between two people in a relationship. It’s an insidious epidemic.

Rihanna fell in love Brown, her best friend and her “first big love.” But their relationship began to deteriorate and turned toxic and dangerous. On her 2010 album Rated R which followed her abuse, Rihanna sang songs like “Russian Roulette,” about how “love is a terrifying game,” and “Man Down,” accompanied by a revenge fantasy video. She “channeled the pain of the assault and the breakup.”

In her 2012 song “Birthday Cake” which Brown collaborated on, apparently Rihanna’s choice, the lyrics about “blowing my candles out,” “betcha wanna put your name on it,” “I’mma make you my bitch,” and licking “the icing off,” all paint imagery of food, sex, domination, ownership and consumption. These lyrics sicken me when I think about Rihanna singing a duet with her abuser.

In Ann Powers’ astute analysis of Rihanna and “Birthday Cake” at NPR, she asserts Rihanna doesn’t want to wear the mantle of a role model, or empowerment or freedom:

 “What’s upsetting for those of us who admire Rihanna’s talent and boldness — and for me as a feminist — is that she has clearly not taken up the narrative of women’s enlightenment and self-liberation. Quite the opposite — the story she wants to tell is the one in which the endangered woman doesn’t get out, or leaves for a while but comes back, or at best does leave, but can’t resolve the mixed feelings she has about her choice.”

J. Bryan Lowder at Double XX Mag speculates Rihanna’s motivated by wanting to shed her victim image but the public can’t ever forget that horrifying image, the notorious shocking photo of Rihanna’s bruised face:

“The original moment of upsetting intimacy should be canceled out by the new moment of empowerment—in our seeing that she chooses Brown. It’s just that, with that photo in the back of our minds, we can’t help but worry about her fitness to judge.”

Despite my disappointment over Rihanna’s decision to contact her abusive ex, I made the same mistake. I survived not one but two abusive relationships. After I broke up with one of the exes, I tried to remain friends with them. But I eventually had to ask myself, “What the fuck are you doing??” I wouldn’t want one of my friends associating with their former abuser. So why was I? That’s when I cut off all contact.

It’s not easy to break the cycle of abuse. When someone abuses you (physically, emotionally, psychologically, fiscally), it doesn’t necessarily mean you stop loving them. Abusers often promise they’ll never do it again. And it’s so tempting to believe they’ll change. Survivors often blame themselves, thinking they could have done something different or that they somehow provoked the abuse. Some survivors desperately want to leave but can’t, worried they have nowhere to go and no way to support themselves. Or their partner threatens to take away their children or report them if they’re an undocumented immigrant. That’s why it’s so hard to leave and why so many return.

Some people say that because Rihanna forgave Brown, so it’s okay, we should all forgive him. Or because time has passed, it’s been 3 years, it’s okay. No, it’s not fucking okay. And others have voiced that they don’t believe Brown should be forgiven or that he should’ve performed at the Grammys. Brown is on probation till 2014 yet the Grammys still let him perform. And I’m sure commercialism and profit motivated their decision. But it also sends a clear signal: that abused women don’t matter.

Sasha Pasulka wrote a brilliant piece at Hello Giggles about how she’s not okay with Brown performing at the Grammys. She asserts that Rihanna is probably tired of “being a poster child” for domestic violence survivors and is “under no obligation to speak out about” her abuse. “But someone has to” and she’s shocked more people aren’t speaking out:

“We – the grown-up influencers in this country, the people with platforms and with educations and with power — are allowing a clear message to be sent to women: We will easily forgive a person who victimizes you. We are able to look beyond the fact that you were treated as less than human, that a bigger, stronger person decided to resolve a conflict with you through violence. We know it happened, but it’s just not that big of a deal to us.”

But domestic violence is a big deal and should outrage us all. And that anger should motivate us to speak out and support survivors.  Caperton at Feministe wrote:

“This is why we should still be upset. This is why we can’t just let it go. Because girls and women don’t just see his violent assault as a non-issue–they see it as a joke. Regardless of whether he ever beats a woman again or whether he feels really, really bad about what he did (of which we have yet to see evidence), if the response from anyone is “It’s okay if he’s hot,” it means we as a society have a lot more work to do. If the response is, “LOL domestic violence is so funny,” I have no idea where to even start.”

So why does it matter what Rihanna does? Because it influences young women and their opinions on relationships. Some teens believe Rihanna got what she deserved. This past February, those horrifying and disturbing tweets surfaced where women claimed they would let Chris Brown “beat them any day.”

But this is symptomatic of a larger societal problem — a culture that normalizes violence against women, dismisses survivors, tolerates abuse and trivializes domestic violence.

As Erin Gloria Ryan at Jezebel wrote:

“The women who offered themselves up for a Chris Brown face punching are not the problem; they’re the symptom of a culture that teaches people (and especially young women) that love is submitting to your partner’s ever whim and not holding them to any sort of behavioral standard.”

What are we teaching kids? Now 1 in 6 seventh graders are victims of dating violence, a horrifying statistic. We shrug off violent celebs abuse, respectable newspapers slut-shame victims, watch advertisements glorify street harassment and domestic violence in order to further profit or an agenda, and the media objectifies and commodifies women’s bodies. Domestic violence myths repeatedly circulate. People joke about rape and domestic violence. Society blames women’s actions, dress and behavior regarding abuse, rape or assault.

This is the world children grow up in. And it’s fucking frightening.

For me, I realized I deserved a healthy relationship, not one mired in abuse and shame. And that’s what made me eventually leave. We need to teach young women that they deserve better. We must teach children and teens that it’s never okay for someone to put their hands on their partner. Love should never hurt. Ever. These are the messages we need to send to young women and men.

Rihanna isn’t responsible for the fucked-up world we live in. She’s under no obligation to discuss her abuse and it’s certainly not her responsibility to fix social ills. She did absolutely nothing wrong; Chris Brown did. But I wish Rihanna would pause a moment and think about how people, especially young people, will view her actions and internalize her choices. Young women and men need to know that domestic violence isn’t something to be taken lightly.

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‘Best Friends Forever’ TV Series Focuses on Two Female Friends, Which Must Infuriate Sexist ‘Two and a Half Men’ Creator

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

Originally published at Bitch Flicks.

“Hey, you always have a choice when it comes to your vagina.”

So says Lennon on NBC’s new sitcom that premiered last night, Best Friends Forever. And yes, you do have a choice, when it comes to vaginas and other things. So should you choose to watch the new female-fronted show?

When I first saw the trailer, I was ecstatic. I mean, a TV show putting two women front and center, even in their title??? Yes, please!

Written, produced and starring real-life friends Jessica St.Clair and Lennon Parham, it also features Alexa Junge as producer and showrunner. After her husband serves her divorce papers, Jessica (St. Clair) moves from California back home to Brooklyn to live with her best friend Lennon (Parham) and her live-in boyfriend Joe. As Jessica and Lennon reminisce and bond, Joe (Luka Jones) feels left out.

Best Friends Forever is witty, funny and surprisingly sweet and tender. Parham and St. Clair share an effortless chemistry. The characters are likeable and interesting. While it seems like it might suffer from predictability – a Three’s Company premise, Joe seems like he might be a stereotypical man-child (like when he creates a female video game avatar with ginormous boobs), vagina talk between Jessica and Lennon – it possesses realistic dialogue and its humor isn’t mean-spirited. Jessica is snarky but not deemed a shrew. Lennon is nurturing but not a doormat. Lennon and Joe’s relationship is refreshingly egalitarian and über adorbs as they bond over their shared love of Braveheart and Medieval Times. Neither gender is portrayed as superior and as Rachel Stein at Television Without Pity points out, “it weighs men and women equally.”

Best Friends Forever passes the Bechdel Test, which so few films and TV shows do. The female friendship is clearly  front and center. Talking about the show’s premise:

Lennon: “Essentially it’s a story about two best friends who are so close — it’s like that romantic relationship that girls have in middle school that travels with them.”
Jessica: “Someone brought this up to us: The word ‘friendsbians.’ You’re so close you might as well be having sex, but you’re not. [Laughs.] So really it’s a love story about two women. It’s a romantic comedy, but instead of a boy and girl, it’s Jessica and Lennon.”

Parham and St. Clair hope the series “fills the void” that Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls and Anne of Green Gables has left. Okay, as a huge SATC and Anne Shirley fan, I so heart that.

You can sense that the two leads share a history, finishing each others’ sentences, discussing dinner parties and whipping up homemade Scoops (um, which sound delish btw), and using a movie (in this case weepy Steel Magnolias and “pulling a Shelby” if you rush into major life decisions) to give advice about life, which is unusual in the pilot as most shows take at least a season or two to sink into the camaraderie.

Yes, it’s problematic the characters are white and straight, aside from neighbor Queenetta (Daija Owens), the ubiquitous precocious child and the stereotypical sassy black girl…as if all black girls must be sassy. Although I’ve got to admit, she delivered one of the funniest lines of the episode when she said, “There’s a new baby in my house and I don’t like the way it smells!”

According to Two and a Half Men co-creator Lee Aronsohn, we already have enough female-centric TV series. Gee thanks, asshole. At the Toronto Screenwriting Conference, Aronsohn told The Hollywood Reporter:

“Enough, ladies. I get it. You have periods…But we’re approaching peak vagina on
television, the point of labia saturation.”

Oh that’s right. Women shouldn’t write, create, act or do anything. Cause you know all we ladies care about? Our fucking periods. Silly me for forgetting that. Thankfully fab feminists Martha Plimpton and Lizz Winstead among others called out this douchebaggery.

While it seems that there’s been a surge in female-centric comedies, Aronsohn’s bullshit sexist comments about vagina saturation is just that. Bullshit. Because if you look at the actual numbers, it’s not so. If you look at the female-fronted TV shows, they may be ensembles but they rarely focus on female friendship. 2 Broke Girls and Parks and Recreation (although not really this season) are the only other TV shows on right now that
revolve around 2 female best friends.

As Amy Tennery at The Jane Dough, using data from Women’s Media Center, points out last TV season, women only comprised 15% of writers (!!!) and “the closest we’ve ever come to having parity with guys was in 2009 when women comprised 39% of television entertainment producers.” So there must be surge of women as TV characters then for Lee’s tirade, right?? Nope. Women constitute approximately 40% of TV characters (41% according to WMC, which doesn’t include last season, and 43% according to GLAAD). Um yeah, douchebag…that’s not exactly “peak vagina” season, whatever the fuck that is.

Is it the best comedy on TV right now? No, although it might be too early to tell. Parks and Rec still holds that title for me, followed closely by Community and Up All Night. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have oodles of potential. It made me laugh out loud. Something very few comedies actually do. And we desperately need more women writers and female characters. With two smart, funny ladies at the helm, I’m curious to see where Best Friends Forever goes.

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