The 67th primetime Emmy awards happened this past Sunday, and while I opted out of watching it live in favor of the premier of the last season of Downton Abbey (many tears!), a tweet that night from CNN contributor Rachel Sklar was cause enough for me to drop my cup of tea back into its saucer and… Continue Reading →
An A+ for Teen Wolf
Let’s talk about MTV’s Teen Wolf. As a feminist and lover of pretty much all things pop-culture related, I feel like I can easily take in a television show or film and inadvertently “grade” it on how well it measures up in its representation of women and other minority groups. Such a habit comes from being… Continue Reading →
Steps forward: From Gilmore Girls to Orange is the New Black
Advocating for more realistic portrayals of female characters in the media has been a major part of the third wave of feminism. But in all of our work and efforts, have we been making any strides? Is there anything we can point to and say, “This, my friends, is headed in the right direction”? When Gilmore… Continue Reading →
Punching out sexism with Agent Carter
I think I’m in love. I’ve started watching Agent Carter, and so far it’s amazing. Agent Carter is a short television series about Secret Agent Peggy Carter, filling in the mid-season break in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. We first met Peggy in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger when she played a supporting… Continue Reading →
Break from network TV means more than gratuitous boobs
For better or worse, the manner in which we consume media is vastly different than it was just ten years ago. The content is different, and the messages we are absorbing are undeniably different. As new media outlets are developed and become increasingly segmented into niches, there are numerous questions about whether we move towards… Continue Reading →
Crash course in the Vito Russo Test
I was recently speaking to a friend of mine about the Bechdel Test and I asked whether or not there was a Bechdel equivalent for LGBTQ movie analysis. She said she thought that there must be, and after some research, I quickly came across the answer: the Vito Russo Test. Both the Bechdel Test and… Continue Reading →
Orange is the New Black, white, straight, gay, and everything in between
I’m extremely skeptical about television. I don’t have cable because, save for Breaking Bad, I’m generally not interested. So when I first saw the ads for Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, I was quick to write it off as a scripted and gimmicky tale of a white girl in prison. But after watching it, I… Continue Reading →
Don’t let the genre fool you — Game of Thrones is full of feminist surprises
Game of Thrones is hot right now and I’m into it! For those of you who haven’t caught on to the Game of Thrones craze, let me tell you, it is much more than a medieval fantasy/action series. For those that may be surprised to see Game of Thrones being praised by a feminist, I’d… Continue Reading →
Kai Hibbard says “The Biggest Loser” gave her “a really fun eating disorder”
They laugh, they cry, they shed half their body weight! Okay, admittedly I have never seen a full episode of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” but apparently, I’m in the minority. Since 2004, viewers in more than 90 countries have watched overweight contestants swap unhealthy habits for wholesome lifestyles, often emerging as toned and taut finalists… Continue Reading →