feministhemes.com

I wasn’t expecting a lot when I Netflix’d Baby Mama. The movie seemed to come and go when it was released and the lack of buzz took it off my radar pretty quickly. However, I love funny women so I gave it a shot, and I’m glad I did.

About a month ago I watched Bride Wars with my friends. I feel like that movie and Baby Mama could be categorized together, in that they’re both movies about women with stereotypical feminine desires, and both have over the top happy resolutions. They’re the kind of movie you’d watch on a lazy Friday night with a few friends and a bottle of wine (or beer). The difference between the two is one of them made me weep for humanity and the other just made me wish for a slight change of ending.

[Spoilers Ahead] Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t even know where to start with this one, although I will say that none of the lows that advertisers stoop to really surprise me when I’m watching football.

Okay, first, just because I am a woman doesn’t mean that the plethora of stereotypes spewed in the ad apply to me in any way.  Secondly, just because I don’t like those things, doesn’t mean I will like your man-machine.  Yoga and sports cars are not mutually exclusive.

Furthermore, beyond never wanting anything to do with this man-machine, I don’t want anything to do with anyone who does want anything to do with the hypermasculine desperation dripping from this hunk of metal.

I hate football commercials.

I’ve touched on 30 Rock before and argued against it as a feminist show.  I’ve reviewed season 1 and watched season 2, and am more often offended and stupified than impressed.  But I keep trying.  Anyway, clearly there are many people who do like 30 Rock and Tina Fey, and Colleen at Cultural Voice Over has an interesting post up about Liz Lemon as a feminist icon.  Here are some of my thoughts about her thoughts:

And then it occurred to me…Liz Lemon (played by Tina Fey, of course) of 30 Rock has to be, truly, one of the best female icons on television right now.Essentially, Liz Lemon is a lot like Tina Fey (except “more of a loser,” as Fey herself once said.) But they seem to represent the same concepts and ideas, and the similarities are obvious when comparing Lemon and Fey’s careers and histories.

I had revered Tina Fey as a feminist role model until I started doing a little research and kept getting stuck when trying to put together a 10 Reasons for her.  I’m willing to admit that I’ve made some stretches in the feature before in finding quotes to support the theory that so-and-so is a feminist role model, but Tina was tough.  I found (and continue to find) myself wondering why I had been operating under the assumption that Tina was a feminist – because she’s intelligent?  Because she isn’t overtly and constantly sexual/ized?  Because she wears glasses?  I’m still not sure, but I’ve had trouble finding enough evidence to convince myself she’s a strong feminist role model (not that she needs to be one).

There are oh so many reasons why us women looooove Liz Lemon. She strives and struggles to “have it all!” as a creative writer, business woman, single woman on the New York dating scene, and a sometimes “clock-a-tickin’” wannabe mother.

Stereotypes are dangerous, double-edged swords.  They exist because there is some truth to them, but as often as they provide us with a blueprint for understanding a group of people they fail us in misrepresenting the individuals that compose that group.  As Colleen notes, Liz is never fully satisfied in any of her roles, and never views herself as successful or deserving or confident, despite her clear successes and intelligence.  And the baby-crazed thing is insulting.

Women say they can relate to Lemon because they “eat like her,” or are “dorky” like she is. Or they get nervous around men like she frequently does. We can relate to her. We see her at home, not made-up, hair a mess and lounging around in un-sexy sweats eating blocks of cheese late in the night.

It’s nice to see a dorky, unique character on tv.  It’s nice to see her as an independent career woman.  It’s nice to see someone who eats.  However, Liz is always either ashamed of her eating or mocked, teased or insulted by her coworkers about them.  The things that we see in Liz that are reflections of ourselves are things that Liz is constantly dogged for and never defends.  Jack is Liz’s boss, so it wouldn’t be easy for her to confront his misogyny, but ignoring and taking it day-in and day-out isn’t really inspiring.

I started watching 30 Rock hoping that Tina Fey’s influence would create an awesome feminist role model in Liz Lemon, and I have been disappointed at every turn.  What’s your perspective?

“When people think offensive remarks about homosexuals, it offends me. Many are offended …
it may offend their religions … some stick to their religions. What’s behind it is homophobia-
the worry, the fear, the life. It’s a perfectly normal, minority group of people in the world who
should not be discriminated against whatsoever. People don’t get it who have never met a
homosexual person, or read or watch anti-gay people in the media, but when they discover
that maybe their child is gay, there can be the most amazing turnaround. It means that
people have to discuss the situation, and the situation is that there’s no need to make life
miserable for those who contribute to the community and the nation. They should be embraced.”

- Sir Ian McKellan

Sir Ian McKellan is best known by my generation as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings or Magneto in X-men.  As an out gay male, he is an active spokesperson for the rights of sexual minorities.

From BlackBook via Jezebel.

“The washing machine more liberating than the Pill?  This continual playing to stereotypes
must stop.  It must be challenged…  Everybody knows it was the vacuum cleaner
that liberated women more than the Pill.”

- Rush Limbaugh

“Rush Limbaugh misogyny” is one of the top search terms that brings people to our site.  Thanks, Rush!

Although Tina Fey has let me down with 30 Rock, I am continually impressed with Amy Poehler.  Her straight-to-dvd film Spring Breakdown is much better than The Man wants you to think, although it does sort of feel like it’s more along the lines of A Night at the Roxbury or Superstar than anything in theaters today.

Amy and her friends go to Spring Break to keep an eye on the daughter of a political hotshot and protect her (mom, that is) from the press.  In the midst of the excitement, Amy and Rachel Dratch get pulled into the crazy partying, only to later realize the importance of true friendship and self-respect.

It’s kind of refreshing to see Spring Break mocked for its ridiculousness instead of paraded as soft-core porn, not to mention the beauty of a film about women that is about more than chasing a dude (although that is how they end up there in the first place…).  Either way, I recommend Spring Breakdown if you liked the SNL Feature Films of the 90s, or if you like your women short, sassy, and spunky.

So you have probably come across this video before, but I have an ever expanding love of Fred Armisen and a continued case of writer’s block, so enjoy.

You may or may not have known that there is also a part two…

I’ve been under the impression that I ought to give 30 Rock a chance for a while now.  Typically (or at least in theory) I like Tina Fey, so it had that going for it.  On the other hand, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan usually make me want to barf, so it was kind of a toss up.  Now that I’ve made it through season 1, I have mixed feelings.  There is a lot of problematic material here.  I think that we’re supposed to interpret this as “ironic” or “tongue-in-cheek” a lot of the time, but mostly the running gags come off as distasteful.  Stick with me through some clips and concerns, and I promise to try to look on the bright side at the end.

First there is the idea that Liz Lemon is an unattractive, pathetic spinster despite the fact that Tina Fey is gorgeous, intelligent, and successful (all of which seem to translate into Liz as well). Take the following clip from “The Baby Show” where crazy Liz can’t control her baby cravings and steals a baby instinctively.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg.  Cerie the sexy secretary,  Jenna the ditz, Jack the misogynist, and running jokes about how gross sex workers/persons with disabilities/gay men are, as well as my attempt to look for the silver lining after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been awhile since 3rd Rock From the Sun went off the air, but now that reruns are airing on TVland, we can once again enjoy the antics of some of my favorite aliens; Dick, Sally, Harry and Tommy. 3rd Rock was always good for a laugh as the aliens observed human interactions from an outsiders perspective. In particular the romances between Dick and Dr. Mary Albright and Sally and Officer Don often played with gender stereotypes, as neither Mary nor Sally were willing to put up with any crap from their partners. Mary’s feisty attitude likely came from her extensive education and young adulthood during the second wave feminist movement. Sally, on the other hand, was never accustomed to gender differences as the aliens were asexual on their home planet.

When they first arrived on Earth, Sally was unhappy with her assignment into a female body while the rest of the aliens were male. She put in a request for a body-swap, but there was no word for years, and she not only adapted to her female form but grew to love it (a running gag on the show was that Sally was ashamed of her body, despite appearing like a supermodel to typical humans). However, three years later The Big Giant Head granted the request, resulting in shenanigans as she and Dick try to live in each others’ bodies until their request to switch back is answered.

Somewhat disappointingly Sally as Dick teaches his class about the formulas of shopping. Dick as Sally has a more difficult time adjusting: at 5:50 you can see how Dick’s brain copes with the harassment Sally’s body garnishes daily. If you want to watch the rest of the episode, you can catch part two here, and the great conclusion after the jump.

Click here for Sally and Dick’s reflections on their body swap

We’ve been over this, people. Girls (and women) play too. We don’t just watch our boyfriends play in amazement.

Even if it weren’t for this commercial, this isn’t the type of game I’d typically choose, but I have certainly known my share of bad@$$ gamer women who destroy male gamers on Halo and other shooter and action games.

Marketers would do well to realize that women are a viable video-game market, and they should try catering to us without the pink and romance and stop insulting our intelligence in male-targeted games.

« Older Entries