Vote Leslie Nope!!! (Amy Poehler)

Amy Poehler is a very popular comedian, actress, director, and producer and writer. She moved to NYC in 1996 to start working for Comedy Central as she had comedy in her sights starting when she attended Boston College and participated in an improv comedy troupe called My Mother's Fleabag. 

She is well known for her works in Saturday Night Live (2001-2008) making a hit in various sketches and making strides for female comedians along side with her friend and colleague, Tina Fey. Poehler's work on SNL earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Parks and Recreation, an American sitcom written, directed and produced by Amy Poehler, began it's journey in 2009. We are introduced to Leslie Knope, a Deputy Parks Director of Pawnee's parks and recreation department, a mid-level bureaucratic position, as well as being a member of the city council. She constantly lives in her mother's shadows, as her mother is a highly respected council member with many achievements that Leslie hopes to one day achieve as well. 

Although Leslie makes a great effort in making the city of Pawnee a better place, she runs into many difficulties as a woman, and as someone who is honest and just (not common in her field, which she learns throughout the series but does not let that affect her or her decisions). In Season 1 Episode 5, Leslie is encouraged by her mother to resort to blackmailing a distant council member, however Leslie fails to go through with it for it was against her morals. We see the physical struggle that Leslie goes through trying to blackmail this woman as she stutters and makes a fool of herself. 

Throughout the series, Leslie makes a great deal of effort to stand up for what she believes in and fight the odds of an male-dominated council. She believes very strongly in her responsibilities as the Deputy Parks Director, and won't let anything get in her way of achieving her goals.

Although comedic and satirical, Leslie is praised to be one of the most feminist characters on TV. It is refreshing to see the efforts of women in developing characters that are inspirational and funny, almost as if she is a real person. 

Amy Poehler allowed for one more relatable and respectable character on TV and that allows me to hope for many more to come. 

Policing of Women's Bodies

For many years , women have fought for their rights.  Every time women takes ten steps forward, the government makes them take 20 steps back.  It is bad enough that women are not seen empowering as men in politics but what make it worst is that these men are trying to have control of women’s bodies’.  Starting from the way women’s appearances to their reproductive systems, men believe they should have a say.  But why? Why should we have a male, who probably does not know a thing or two about a woman’s reproductive system, decided to control women’s contraceptive and abortion rights.

Women today pay a lot for contraceptives.  It is a struggle for women to pay hundreds of dollars a year just to prevent pregnancy.  Men do not spent as much as women for contraceptives.  Some clinics offer free condoms for men men, but why can't they offer free birth control, or emergency contraceptive for females?

In a Times article “The Only Controversy About Birth Control Is That We're Still Fighting for It” it mentions “Birth control is only a social issue if you’ve never had to pay for it. Many women pay an average of $600 a year — and sometimes much more — for contraceptives. A 2010 survey found that more than one-third of women voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control at some point in their lives – but when they have access to it, they can support themselves financially, complete their education, and plan their families and have children when they are ready. It’s good for women, it’s good for families, and it’s good for this country.”  

Not only are contraceptives for women hard to obtain, but women are also judge for taking them (especially at a young age).  What men don’t understand is that the pill is not only for preventing pregnancy but it can help women’s health.  So why isn’t the pill free? Media has played a big role on contraceptives for women.  Instead of encouraging women to use contraceptives, they stereotype the women who do. In Roxannes Gay’s “The alienable rights of Women” she states “In certain circles, birth control is being framed as whore medicine.  We are now dealing with a bizarre new morality where a woman cannot simply say in one way or another, “I’m on the pill because I like dick” .  If a woman is sexually active, she is considered a whore. Media has a lot to do with this, mostly teenage shows give the stereo-type to girls that if they're using birth control, they are having sex and if they are having sex, they are whore.

Pro Choice Ad

Abortion.  One of the biggest controversial topics in the United States, where the politicians wants to get involve for the “sake of the fetus.”  How is this possible? Why does the government have to get involved in a woman’s private matter.  If a women does not want to have a child, then it should be her, and only her to decide that, not men who she has never even met.  In Roxannes Gay’s “The alienable rights of Women” she states “Pregnancy is an experience that invites public intervention and forces the female body into the public discourse.  In many ways, pregnancy is the least private experience of a woman's life.”  Now of course physically women are

In an article I've read in the New York Times by Lynn M. Paltrow and Jeanne Flavin “Pregnant, and No Civil Right”, there are several cases where the women been charged with fetal homicide.  Politicians want to enforce rights on a fetus, which means that, if for any reason a woman has a miscarriage or if the baby is born with a defect, a woman can get charged for homicide. This means, that an unborn child has more rights than women. There are several cases where if a fetus' life is in danger the mother has to do whatever she can to save it even if it can cost her her life. Reading this article stunned me, I couldn't believe that these cases existed. It is not fair how we have the government policing women's bodies, telling us that women HAVE kept babies they don't want because women are meant to be mothers. It should be the women's right to decide if they want to be mothers, if they want to have a lot of sex not the MEN that don't have vaginas.

Gay, Roxane. "The Alienable Rights of Women." Bad Feminist. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 267-79. Print.

Policing of Women's Bodies - Post 4

As the name of our class suggests, it is about the relationship between women and the media. We've discussed how the media's lack of representation can affect young women and the blatant sexism seen in most of Hollywood's top movies. However, the media is also responsible for policing women's bodies. It is not in a way where police officers will come to your house and tell you that you're "a bit too fat" or "not white enough." Actually, it is a cycle of not being enough; women are not thin enough or thick enough or pretty enough or smart enough. This is all stems from what we see in the media's portrayal of women.

In Gloria Steinem's Sex, Lies and Advertising, she discussed the difficulty of putting certain ads in the Ms. magazine. Steinem was aware of how ironic it would be to include ads with sexist images in a feminist magazine. "I thought then that our main problem would be the imagery in ads themselves. Carmakers were still draping blondes in evening gowns over the hoods like ornaments. Authority figures were almost always male, even in ads for products that only women used...Even in medical journals, tranquilizer ads showed depressed housewives standing beside piles of dirty dishes and promised to get them back to work" (Steinem 113).

Example of  body policing in ads Source: pinterest.com

The imagery that Steinem describes sounds no different from the ads we see today, the difference is that there are even more platforms for advertisers to sell their products. Ads today are not as on-the-nose with sexism (to the untrained eye) but it is still there, just a little bit more nuanced so that advertisers don't get called out on it by everyone. These ads tell women that there is something wrong with their bodies and that their product will help them achieve that ideal.

This also relates back to the idea of the male gaze. These ads are being framed by men thus the messages being sent are intrinsically messages about these men's desires "You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanit, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure" (Berger 51).

The policing of women's bodies also includes the legislation surrounding women's rights. Abortion has been a hot topic since Roe V. Wade and it has turned into a fight over women's bodies, whether pro-life advocates intended for that or not. There is a misunderstanding with people against abortion that pro-choicers will want to have abortions so that they avoid responsibility. This leads into policing women's sex lives, shaming women that would dare to have sex with multiple people. Ultimately, this policing does not benefit anyone except people who still cannot understand that women's bodies belong to the women, not them. Roxanne Gay sums it up perfectly in The Alienable Rights of Women, "If these politicians can't prevent women from having abortions, they are certainly going to punish them. They are going to punish these women severely, cruelly, unusually for daring to make choices about motherhood, their bodies, and their futures" (Gay 271).

Pro-choice activists defend the rights to their bodies. Source: michiganradio.org

Works cited
1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. 1972.
2. Gay, Roxanne. The Alienable Rights of Women. 2012.
3. Steinem, Gloria. Sex, Lies and Advertising. 1990.

Policing a Woman's Body

It is without a doubt that women have been and are under constant struggle as they fight against all kinds of issues. However, one of the most concerning and affecting issue of those is the policing of a woman's body. A woman's body is constantly up for discussion, standardized, idolized, and are decided for, mostly by men. By the government, if a woman finds herself in a situation where she must decide on bringing a baby into the world or not, she is influenced heavily by other men and what they think the woman should do. By the mass media, women are under constant stress to be thin and (ideologically) beautiful physically, all standardized by men. By social "norms", women must be quiet, submissive and 'lady-like,' what a man would want in a woman. In all aspects, women must fight for political, economical, and social equality, and for the choice in what they choose to do with their bodies, and for men, it is just handed to them. This is not to detest men, but to expose the severity of how many issues that concern women, are policed by men.

Self explanatory cartoon of protesting body policing.

Many women may live their lives not knowing that they are under constant watch, not only by others, but by her own self. Many females set standards for themselves but do not realize that those standards were already set for them by men. These standards are forever engraved in their heads and in society. This was theorized in John Berger's 'Way of Seeing'; "Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." (Berger, 47) Women often mistake to think that the standards she holds for herself are empowering, but do not realize that her standards may have been tainted by the patriarchal world.

A picture from justamorous displaying different
types of "standard"

These standards are visible in our day-to-day lives as we can see a pattern in advertising, TV shows, movies, magazines and other mediums of the women that are praised and deemed beautiful. The "acceptable" image of a woman is curated by a man and shown to the world by a man. This standard is then etched into womens' brain and if you do not fit under 'his' standard, you are not beautiful, you are not worthy. With these standards in mind, women are in an endless self-loathing relationship with herself. However if women accept that these standards are neither realistic or healthy, women can stand up for their bodies, help young women avoid a toxic cycle that is started from the moment they enter the world. “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men… A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself… From her earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually." (Berger, 46)

In a patriarchal world, there are things that are disclosed because men decide it's a matter not to be discussed. And one of the most controversial topics of those is birth control. Whether it'd be a religious reason, or a political reason, men (and heavily male-influenced women) have expressed a strong voice in being against it. There have been various efforts in changing this, but birth control remains to be one of the biggest non-discussed matter within the female community. 

A protest in North Carolina on the decision to offer
birth control or not in the state

The first time I learned about birth control was in my senior year of high school. Not in school, but through an older girl I knew. She had pills in her purse and I asked what they were and she had tried to explain it to me, but I still didn't quite understand. She had told me that her mom did not know she was taking these pills. Everything about it was hush-hush and she told me not to tell anyone. From that moment on I believed that those pills were bad and I should not associate myself with them. When I got a little older, I researched a bit more about these pills and learned that they helped to regulate a woman's period cycle and sometimes even cure pimples. I was amazed! I asked my mom if I can "get on" the pills (as the lingo goes) too and she was stunned that I knew what they were. She told me that I don't need that since I was not having sex. Even if I was, what's so bad about protecting myself? I was confused and frustrated that she had shut me down on me wanting to make decisions about my body. “And of course I am afraid, because the transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger,” (Lorde, 42). Just like Audre Lorde, in Silence into Action, I was silenced by my mother's (male-influenced, whether she knows it or not) opinion about "the pill." The fact that we could not even discuss it baffled me and unfortunately, this incident occurs so commonly even today. But it is time to educate our girls on their bodies and start talking about the pill.

Berger, John.  "Ways of Seeing" London: Penguin, 1972.Lorde, Audre. "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." 

Post 4- Politics of Sex

           

     

                   The policing of women's bodies is something that women are no stranger to; the subject of abortion demonstrates this. In Gay's "Alienable Rights of Women" she writes "Pregnancy is at once a private and public experience. Pregnancy is private because it is so very personal. It happens within the body, in a perfect world pregnancy would be an intimate experience shared by a woman and her partner alone but for various reasons that is not possible" and this is due to numerous legislations put in place to limit a woman in doing whatever she wants when it comes to pregnancy, especially one that is unwanted.  

Nicki Minaj's bottom being "edited" in the cover of HER single cover "Anaconda".

                We live in a patriarchal society, there's no denying that and you would think that because we live in a patriarchal society that a photo such as the one above would be a visual playground for a lot of the males out in the world but that isn't the case. Overtly sexual images such as the one above wasn't as well-received as you would think and that is largely contributed to the fact that this was Nicki's work. It wasn't playboy magazine or King magazine (these magazines are geared and created for men), it was Nicki's and as soon as a woman is doing something on her terms, in her way, that's a threat and it needs to be 'policied' hence, the blocking out of Nicki's bottom. A lot of this also relates to John Berger's  "Ways of Seeing" whereby he writes "...that men watch women watch themselves" (Berger, 55).


Berger, John.  Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972.
Gay, Roxanne. "Alienable Rights of Women". 

Shirin Neshat

         
                Shirin Neshat is an Iranian artist, film-maker and photographer. She solely directed and wrote along with several other writers the 2009 film "Women Without Men". This film passes the Bechdel Test several times over. Neshat's approach to art is deep and transformative. She knows how to capture her audience without needing her cast to have much dialogue. Her work is deeply based in emotions, in feeling, in being able (almost effortlessly) to put yourself in the shoes of a woman, not only in the film "Women Without Men" but in the the shoes of a woman in Iran, especially during and after the Iranian revolution. Neshat's work is so important in not only Iranian or Arabic culture but in the lives of all women because we all have faced some form of oppression, some more overt than others but nonetheless, we've suffered. All in all, Neshat's work has been well-received. She won the Venice film festival 'Silver Lion" award for best directing for her work in "Women Without Men".

Kara Walker

Kara Walker is an artist who is known for her room size tableaux of black cut paper silhouettes. She explorers the intersections of race, gender and sexuality through her art, she first started as a painter. Although oil painting did not work out for her, She was trying to understand her artistic identity and the issues of 'the other'. As an African American woman, Kara tried to understand the relationship between power and history. Walker came up with the silhouettes as a drawing process in which she fell in love with history painting.  African American history in the United States is one of the most important views of history in which Kara makes a way to create art from it and use viewers to fill in tension with it. Walkers exhibits have received glowing reviews from both NPR and the New York Times.

Post 5 - - The Politics of Sexual Education

Arguably, education could be considered at the root of all sexual problems running rampant in our culture. HIV, STIs, and unwanted pregnancy have all been solved in that they can be prevented with great success. The problem is not technology, or even the availability of protection - the problem is the education of our youth.

It's no surprise that areas in the U.S. with limited sex education are plagued with teen pregnancy and STIs.

 Source: Office of Adolescent Health

There is no shortage of misinformation out there, just look at something like yahoo answers, or these horror stories. It's painfully obvious that people aren't getting facts from educated professionals, and these educational failures can lead to some pretty funny buzzfeed articles and yahoo threads. But these are the extremes, right?

Scary, huh?

Um, wrong. 

Of course, uneducated youths who engage in sexual activity (because they're going to engage, educated or not) are at risk for unwanted pregnancy and infection. These children are being deprived of a necessary and useful education, but they are also being given a heavily gendered sense of responsibility and shame. 

Many girls are taught by parents and teachers that the male libido is uncontrollable, that boys only want one thing, that sexual responsibility is theirs and theirs alone, and that their value is tied to their virginity. 

Some of this culture is perpetuated by the way society values fatherhood. 

"For the most part, though, paternity leave, where available, is more modest—in Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, Austria and Hungary paternity leave is guaranteed for one week or less." -PewResearchCenter. 

Because of the devaluation the role of fatherhood, boys don't see how pregnancy relates to them in any real way. Therefore, the responsibility of contraception falls on the girl. This sentiment is reiterated by parents, teachers, and doctors alike, and it's terrifying.  

These ideas promote a dangerous culture of male entitlement and expected irresponsibility that leads to, among other things, rape and assault. Burdening women with the lion's share (if not all) of the sexual responsibility in relationships (one-night, long-term, or otherwise) creates a culture of women that are too busy worrying about sex and all its baggage to enjoy it. It doesn't help that we live in a culture where female pleasure is rarely portrayed and often misunderstood. There isn't even a substantial amount of scientific and medical information about the female orgasm. Here is an article about female ejaculation which basically concludes with "we really aren't all that sure what it is." 

And yet, we know exactly how many miles per hour sperm travels on average. 

So, what are we supposed to do with this unbalanced scale of medical information? Why is there such a gap in the information we give our children, and in the subjects deemed important enough to investigate by the scientific community?

Between the religious communities and uncomfortable parents crying out against sex education, it seems as though the shame associated with sex is standing in the way of real information distribution. Maybe our parents have wronged us by treating sex uncomfortably, but so were they wronged by their parents, and so on. When we learn that sex is shameful, we don't ask our parents or our teachers about it. We don't talk about good sex with our friends, and our friends don't talk to us. Most importantly, we don't share all the details with our doctors, and can become sick, hurt, or worse as the result. 

So, it seems that the normalcy of sex - specifically pleasurable female sexuality - could do us all a world of good. Unfortunately, it won't just happen with the coming generation - we have to make sex normal, and have the conversations we've been taught to shame.

Fortunately, we have the tools to do just that.

I believe that social media is changing the world. Demands on social media reach legislators and political figures as a sort of instant poll. Social media outlets, when considered by politicians, can be a direct bridge between policy and the public. It's not a perfect system, but it is a voice. Making sex normal is so important, and, with the help of social media, we can do that. 

Part of the problem here is that it seems so obvious to those of us with the information. We make fun of silly questions and we gasp when a grown man doesn't understand how menstruation works. We forget that we are the lucky few, and that, in fact, there are large gaps in our education as well. 

Even if they feel like their sex education is complete

It's important to stay educated as adults, and to keep up with new developments so we can contribute to an intelligent and public conversation about sex. Conversations like this can change our culture and influence the way the next generation is raised to think about sex. Our culture can change, and influence our legal system. Communities are worried that the government is interfering in their lives and policing our children's education, yet these communities are policing and shaming women in far more damaging ways than they understand. 

Sex Education in the U.S. is Screwing Our Kids

Paid Parental Leave

Teen Parental Leave

The Alienable Rights of Women - - Roxane Gay

And a few people out there who are doing good and calling out absurdities, despite the current legal situation:

Sock Condom

If Drivers' Ed was like Sex Ed

Harry Potter Sex Education

If Buying Condoms was like Buying Birth Control

We Speak!

We're Here But They Don't Seem to See US {Image from the 2020 Leading Women's Society Awards}

     Women are valued in society by of our bodies because patriarchy and misogyny has spiraled down into the female body where our bodies seem to become open for commentary, judgment and ultimately public display for people to ask us things not for our  brains but for the way we look and the way they think we look. The entire slew of psychological effects  this creates is endless, insecurities, eating disorders, dangers of the internet, abortion even, because for the women out there who carry their babies, there are still men voting on whether we have the right to abort or not, well who gave them the right to have a say on our bodies? Who gave them the right to be our mirrors? Who gave them the right to say something they would kill someone for saying to their daughters? We need to find a way to take control of our bodies in ways where no explanation is necessary. Because as Gloria Anzaldua poetically stated, "But women have survived" (Pg.373, Poetry is Not a Luxury). We have survived so we will survive and by surviving we will bring the change we've been neglected for too many years for ourselves and for our sisters, mothers and children, because as strong young women today we don't hide anymore, we don't shy away because someone said something hurtful, we fight back. 

     My body is my body, religious and family values/morals aside, "Our poems formulate the implications of ourselves, what we feel within and dare make real, our fear, our hopes, our most cherished terrors," continues Anzaldua (Pg. 373 Poetry is Not a Luxury). We can recreate our bodies as poetry with our mouths and hands to write the words necessary to bring the change we so desperately desire. 

Young Women Face Gender-Specific Challenges that Limit their Political Participation 

     "...even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect" (Pg. 40 The Transformation of Science into Language: Sister Outsider and Action). If we can't be the political advocates then we have to show it, speak it and raise awareness through our voices even if people misunderstand, even if we misunderstand ourselves, the point is we are talking and getting what we feel, what we must say to make a difference before it's too late for ourselves and for our children. We carry a child for 9 months in our stomachs, we go through child labor, every month genetically we are reminded we are women and all of this creates the sources we have had since the beginning of time to fight our fight "Within the war we are all waging with the forces of death, subtle and otherwise, conscious or not - I am not only a casualty, I am also a warrior" (Pg.41 The Transformation of Science into Language: Sister Outsider and Action). We matter, along with our brains and voices to make our stories widespread. 
     The Media is our tool to unite us all in this fight together. "This book, I said, would bring our academic dialogue back to where it began - when we were teen girls on the journey toward finding our place in society" (Pg.xxv Yelloh Girls) says Vickie Nam. Of course the media it has its faults, people can write/post/share anything they want, but we can also. That is where media becomes our friend. As more and more awareness sparks, the more television spots, webisodes, podcasts, our own ad campaigns, and vines can showcase our voices and how we will not be silenced anymore. We need this multiplicity of stories in order to execute ourselves as all women fighting one cause. We have opportunities to take our frustration and utilize its strength instead of blaming one another  for the wrongs of other people. DoNow. 

Women Should.

 

 

Definitely Shona Rhimes – Post #5

When I was thinking about this last assignment the first person that popped into my mind was Shona Rhimes. So, I choose Shona Rhime as the artist who exemplifies the feminist movement as writing women characters as they just should be written.  She is a screenwriter, producer and director. One of my favorite shows is Grey’s Anatomy where women’s characters are presented each one in a very unique way; women are intelligent, brave, strong, etc. I just think she presents women in a way that nobody else does, she mixed the characteristic of each one, not presenting them as “the ideal women” that we watch on the media all the time, she presents women that make mistakes and are not perfect, just as we really are in real life “human been”.

Shonda Rhimes and the Grey's Anatomy character (Christina Yang)

 One of my favorite characters of this show is Christina Yang which happens to be an Asian woman, an is something that we do not see often in the media, and also the fact that she is a very strong independent woman which is another characteristic very uncommon on TV. So she fights very hard to accomplish her dreams and there is nothing that can stop her. For these and many more is that I really admire Shona Rhimes, she really presents women the way it should be. 

Blog #5 - Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler has been one of my all-around favorites since I started paying attention to SNL back in the early 2000's, especially once she took over as co-host for “Weekend Update.” Always funny, always all in, and never shied away from from speaking her mind.

Later, she moved on to Parks & Recreation, creating one of the best fictional feminist icons we have to aspire to. (I’ll give you iffy S1 Leslie but S2 and beyond, Leslie was a force to be reckoned with.)  Life and art imitate each other so there’s no reason that young women can’t become the real-life Leslie Knope.  Or any of the wealth of strong female characters Parks & Rec boasted. Because at it's core, Parks & Rec  really showed female characters who were determined, in the end, to always support other women.

Additional to portraying the lead character, Poehler’s work on Parks & Recreation  included serving as producer of the series as well as writing and directing a few episodes. And Poehler co-created (with Meredith Walker and Amy Miles) Smart Girls at the Party, an interview style web series that focuses on girls with unique skills and views, helping them find their voice and confidence. She’s helped bring Broad City to Comedy Central and serves as Executive Producer as well.

In case you haven’t gotten it, Amy Poehler pushes and furthers her career to portray feminism in a positive light and brings into that light as well. She looks sweet and uses that to her advantage, by being loud and unapologetic and getting what she wants. In her book Bossypants, Tiny Fey relates an anecdote showing Amy’s tenacity.

“Amy dropped what she was doing, went black in the eyes for a second, and wheeled around on him. "I don't fucking care if you like it." Jimmy was visibly startled. Amy went right back to enjoying her ridiculous bit …

With that exchange, a cosmic shift took place. Amy made it clear that she wasn't there to be cute. She wasn't there to play wives and girlfriends in the boys' scenes. She was there to do what she wanted to do and she did not fucking care if you like it …”

And I think this really sums up Amy’s career. She’s worked hard and blazed a trail to get to where she is now and is looking to use her leverage to open doors for the next generation of women.  So maybe she is the real life Leslie. Either way, she's here, she's not going anywhere, and she's making room for all the ladies to join her. Get used to it.

Winter's Bone - Debra Granik

When I first saw Winter's Bone in one of my film classes I didn't fully appreciate its feminist message. Then again, at that point I knew nothing of the Bechdel test or really take a serious look at the misrepresentation of women in the film industry. In the film Winter's Bone the director, Debra Granik, tells the story of a young woman living in the Ozarks trying to find her drug-dealing, estranged father while keeping her poverty-stricken family together. In this film, Jennifer Lawrence's character, Ree forces herself into a world of secrets that nobody wants her to be part of. Sure, the plot is gripping, but the real value that I think Granik wants the film to display is that of the strength of women. Throughout the entire film, Ree has to take the care of her family out of her mentally ill mother and absent father. She shows strength and maturity little found in any teenager, regardless of gender. In addition to that, she has to ward off the sheriff from repossessing the house they live in. Intense? To say the least...

Not only are the feminist tones visible because of gender roles completely thrown out the window, but Granik brings feminism into the core plot (without being preachy or completely obvious) this apparent not only because Ree kicks ass and takes names (figuratively... sorta...) to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her father, but because the people who are fighting against her, for the secrecy, and protecting the evil that is eating up her life and those of the people around them, are also women. In movies you have female protagonists all the time, but having female antagonists who are genuinely opposed to the values of the protagonist in a serious and dramatic way is not as common. The position of evil genius is usually relegated to men (say of that what you will) but in this film, that is not the case, despite the head honcho of the meth contingency is a man. You seldom see him though, and when you do, the women in his family usually do the talking for him. Perhaps the most gripping scene for me though, is when Ree is taken to see her father's dead body so she can prove him dead to the sheriff. The women who take her there show her no mercy, telling her to hold her father's dead hand while they cut it off with a chainsaw. Thats intense, terrifying, and badass all at the same time, which basically sums up this film.

Obviously, this film got much praise. It took awards at Sundance, and was nominated for four academy award nominations including best picture and best actress for Jennifer Lawrence. If that's not enough of an advertisement in and of itself, I'll tell you now, go see it.

Amy Schumer

Schumer's current profile picture

There are many women in showbiz but not many have achieved as much as trailblazer, Amy Schumer. First, who is she? Well she started out as your average Jewish, Upper East Side girl who earned a degree in theater, only to work as a barista until she had her first big break. Like many scarlets, Schumer has faced the sexism and inequality that many women (in and out of Hollywood) face.

From entertainer to executive producer, Amy Schumer seems to be the jack of all trades and to many, she is someone you shouldn't sleep on (and rightfully so).
Schumer has faced what many women in the entertainment business do; the double burden of a feminist Hollywood star. When you think Hollywood, you think glamorous, stunning and a real Barbie type. Although she does have blonde hair, she isn't your average bimbo. She's a successful entertainer on the rise and she's taking Hollywood's traditional standards by shoving them up your rear and changing the game for everyone.

As I previously mentioned, Amy Schumer is not only a comedian but she is also a writer and executive producer of her own show on Comedy Central (appropriately named Inside Amy Schumer). The show revolves around Amy and all the challenges/scenarios that are currently popular or controversial. Recently, she challenged the sexism in Hollywood (along with Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette) in a skit for her show in the episode titled, "Last F*ckable Day".

On top of that, she is also an avid speaker for equality and women's rights. The picture on the left states a quote she said during one of these talks when touching base on her feminist roots.

Amy Schumer is not only witty but she is also intelligent and passionate about feminism. She is a star on the rise and a force to be reckon with. If she isn't on your radar, she should be.

When my mom told me to start watching "The Unbreakable Kimmy Shmidt" I was a little wary weather or not to listen to her, until I found out that the show was written by Tina Fey.  Tina Fey is someone that I have always trusted to be funny, smart, and feminist.  Her new show which was released on Netflix on March 6th 2015, not only features a female lead character but passes the Bechdel Test in every episode.  Tina Fey has been a leader in feminism since she started her career as writer and actor/comedian on SNL.  She has been a leader in feminist media with her show 30 Rock as well.  Her new show Unbreakable Kimmy Shmidt depicts the life a woman who has lived in a bunker underground since 1999 and finally was rescued in 2015 just to start her new life in New York City.  The show has a really witty sense of humor that Tina Fey is especially known for and has a very new age mindset towards problems that exist in society today.  Comedy is often a forefront for social change and Tina Fey is a master at putting those issues at the forefront of her writing.