norwich36 | feminist TV?

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feminist TV?

A friend of mine who is under the delusion that I am a pop culture guru was asking me for suggestions for TV episodes to show in her intro women's studies class for a discussion of different kinds of feminism in the media. (She's looking for TV episodes rather than films because of the length). I had some general suggestions for shows that bring up interesting themes--Buffy, Xena, the L word, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Sex and the City (and maybe something like Dollhouse or Mad Men for the flip side)--but I had a hard time coming up with specific episodes that were fairly stand alone, other than maybe the Buffy series finale.

Anyone have better suggestions than me? Basically she's looking for shows that (a)depict some kind of feminism--and I get the impression that debating what feminism is is part of the question she wants to raise; (b)are short (not more than an hour), and (c) are relatively stand-alone, so not a lot of knowledge of the show is required. Recommendations are greatly appreciated.

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The technical details of feminist theory and I are frequently on the outs, but Rizzoli & Isles would probably be a good sandbox to be playing in for this sort of a topic. They've barely started airing really, so there's little to no previous knowledge assumed at this point, too. I remember 1x04 dealt with prostitution, and would probably provide a reasonable battleground for kick-starting the old sexual agency vs. sexual exploitation debate. I think I remember the mains (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles <- that in itself could probably provide some interesting discussion fodder!) actually having an onscreen discussion about a woman's right to use her body how she sees fit (including sexually, for money) versus it never being an okay/safe/otherwise acceptable alternative.

I was hoping someone would chime in on R&I. I mean in the first episode, Rizzoli gets kidnapped by her previous attacker, and while tied up TAKES THEM BOTH OUT. That's kind of awesome.

I kind of see the media as a means of starting discussion. One might pair R&I with Sex and the City (Samantha particularly) to spark the issues (sounds bizarre, but I think the juxtaposition would be amusing) you mentioned.

Or more generally, R&I could be really interesting to compare to another crime show where the empower their most prominent female character in a co-star/support/love-interest role, versus a show where all the stars are women.

And to feed off my L Word suggestion down thread, 1.04 of R&I could be paired up against an early-ish L Word episode where Jenny Schecter starts working in what's depicted as a very low class strip club sort of a set up, in an attempt to empower herself and address various issues she has from (I think, my memory of the early seasons is a smidge fuzzy) sexual assault when she was younger. But there's lots of question marks over whether it is in fact empowering, and if it isn't, whether that's because Jenny was at the time too unwell to make empowering decisions, or whether the situation could never actually be empowering. The other characters are given a shock when they find out what she's doing too, because she invites them to a show without telling them she's in it beforehand, so their reactions could make very interesting discussion fodder just on their own!

That's a good suggestion, though I don't know if she can download things--do you know if they're available on the network website?

No idea, sorry! I'm outside the US, so a lot of those streaming options are automatically cut off for me, so I never go looking.

Other ideas that are more readily available via DVD though, Defying Gravity has a storyline that loads a lot of commentary on women's rights and conservative politics (setting is 50 years in our future, abortion has been outlawed in the US and one of the female leads falls accidentally pregnant and has to access medical support and pregnancy tests in a hush-hush manner, etc.) It would also be interesting for the way that they send a female majority team to run one of the most important space missions ever, and nobody feels the need to comment on it or pat themselves on the back (from within the text itself, or externally that I noticed at the time), it's just a fact of life that the women in the selection program were better qualified for the jobs.

Xena, Legend of the Seeker (would probably provide lots of material via the Mord'Sith ('whores') vs. Confessors ('virgins') angle) , and La Femme Nikita are other shows that come to mind that would probably provide a smorgasbord of opportunities. Something from early on in Ashes to Ashes would also probably work very easily, because the set-up is a character from our time getting temporally displaced, in a fashion, and she has lots of explicit commentary on the change in her political and social surroundings to share with the audience.

If you go with clips, there's also an episode of The L Word where the characters sit around discussing the intersection of women lusting after women with feminism, and how compatible it is to want other women sexually and still not see women as sex objects. I can't remember how much of the episode is devoted to the scene, it could be a scene returned to repeatedly and overlaid with clips for the rest of storyline, or it might just a more typical single scene conversation. I can clip and upload this and any of the above shows for you/her as well though, or provide files if it's just a question of torrent access, not bandwidth/file compatibility in class for Rizzoli & Isles.

I have absolutely no idea what her options are about showing vids in her class--I'll have to talk to her about that and get back to you. Because I remember that storyline on defying gravity, and that would probably work really well.

Do you remember what season of the L word had that conversation about sexuality and feminism? I'm sure there are online episode guides, so even if you can't remember the name of the episode I can probably find it if I have a starting point. And thank you for all of your suggestions!

2.13, and I found the clip on youtubetoo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2UBy4S7-Bg From browsing parts 1-2 of 2.13 it looked like the Jenny strip club bit I mentioned above is around 2.11-2.12 as well.

There's an episode in the final season of Charmed wherein Billie gets mad at the guys at her school for being sexist jockstraps, basically, and she gets turned into a man-hating warrior goddess, and at the end she is freed from it and basically the women stand around and say GUYS ARE AWESOME, NO NEED TO HATE :D

Which is basically the media portrayal of "feminism = hating men." Combine that with the "feminists" in S3 of Veronica Mars who are aggressive, protest, and shove eggs up guys asses because they're angry about rape on campus (this is so offensive a notion that I can't really unpack it). I don't remember that episode either, but your friend could probably find it from the episode descriptions.

The Cat character in 10 Things I Hate About You is pretty much a card carrying third wave feminist. I can't think of a specific episode, but those are thirty minutes, and I'm sure she could find one with Cat ranting about something relevant.

Huge also has a character who identifies as a feminist, and I think she says so in the second episode. She cuts up a fashion magazine and spells out "Screw Body Fascism" on the side of her bunk.

I'm not sure what Dollhouse is supposed to be a flipside of, but on a meta level, it works to demonstrate coming to awareness of oppressive structures and complicity with oppression by people who consider themselves good guys. I doubt that can be viewed in one episode, though, as it is sort of an unfolding theme (and one that I'm not sure holds up in the second season). I'd have to think about it.

The problem with Buffy is that I'm not sure that it ever hits "this is feminism" dead on, although Joss Whedon identifies as a feminist. You might consider S4 around the time of Buffy circling with Riley, because I'm pretty sure they have a conversation wherein he implies that women need to be protected, and Buffy… well she is none to pleased with that idea. There's also "Hush" which has a sort of assholish depiction of Wiccans/feminist spirituality when Willow goes to their group where they're talking about woman power and community building activities and she wants to draw up a circle and play with spells. The music pretty much says "These bitches are KOOKY and FAKE," even though the trappings of their group suggests equality and community by how they sit with one another and try to allow everyone a chance to speak. And then Willow basically says that they're kooky and fake and Tara confirms at the episode. But in S7 in "The Killer in Me," Willow returns to the circle, and they're still doing bake sales, but have become a more serious (now co-ed) group, both spiritually and with the "real" magic of the Whedonverse. Maybe one could look at it in the way that Willow isn't exactly looking for empowerment, social justice, or equality, but skill honing/power, whereas the other group has a specific set of objectives that don't involve floating pencils.

Good luck to her. I'm not sure the breadth of feminisms is actually covered in the media. She might want to consider just organizing specific clips, because an hour worth of a show probably isn't going to focus on feminism too intensely, unless it's meant to talk about how much it sucks. I guess I'm negative on this because I've so rarely seen attention drawn to feminism in a positive or even neutral way.

Oh, VMars! How did I completely block the season 3 storyline out of my mind? That would be interesting, I'm sure.

10 Things I hate about you is a show now? I didn't know that.

Thanks for your other suggestions as well.

How did I completely block the season 3 storyline out of my mind?

Trauma to the suspension of disbelief portion of your brain.

10 Things was a show, but was canceled at the end of the first season. It's all up on Hulu, though.

Yeah, I definitely do have VMars related trauma.

Is 10 Things actually worth watching (apart from whether or not it has feminist content)? I actually liked that movie a lot, though it was probably more for the actors than the characters.

Granted, I watched it ONLY because I was trying to force Huge on someone, and they countered with telling me that there was a self-identified feminist that made 10 Things worth watching. Aside from basically being your standard high school comedy, I really enjoyed the characters. I basically streamlined it and watched the season in three days. Kat is probably extremely unlikable to people at times, but I really kind of adore how smart and intense she is (and also how jaded already at her age). I'd recommend at least trying out an episode, since it'll be about 20ish minutes of your time at the least and could make you smile for several hours at most.

I liked the show, the leads finally figured out their chemistry sometime around episode 7. Its not great, however. And if you compare it to the movie, you will just be sad.

Farscape has lots of feminist discussion starters in many episodes - hardly know where to start.

Other possibilities would include Tru Calling and Crossing Jordan, both involving powerful and asserrtive women working in male-centric situations.

Thanks!

My initial thought is to rec The Middleman, although I can't think of an episode to point to off the top of my head (episodes). It's got a really, really nice friendship between two women (the lead, Wendy Watson, and her best friend/flatmate Lacey Thornfield), if I remember correctly it's pretty sex positive (it's been a bit since I watched, but I'm pretty sure Wendy's clearly been sleeping with her boyfriend and it's not an issue of any sort), and Wendy's an apprentice superhero (although one could talk about how her boss is a white guy). I don't think the show ever uses the word feminism, but I think that there's a lot in the series that can be talked about when discussing feminist media. Also, since it deliberately sends up and invokes different tropes, you get explicit comments like Ida's "appearance processor [getting] stuck on Domineering Schoolmarm Version 2.0." and Lacey described as "another young, photogenic artist."

Possibly the Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown, which plays with James Bond. I think Lacey and Wendy may not be terribly Bechdel-passing in that episode, although talking about boys is not the sum total of their relationship throughout the series. The Pilot Episode Sanction, the pilot, might work: Wendy's temping and is under pressure from her mother, who wants her to get married and asks her flatmate if she's a lesbian; Lacey's protesting with her animal liberation group; there's definite mention of women's visual appearance since it has the line about Ida's appearance processor and the bit about Lacey being young and photogenic; and the evil mastermind is a woman but isn't, if I recall correctly, practicing a feminized brand of evil (she wants to take over the world because she wants to take over the world, not because her boyfriend broke up with her or she's jealous of someone). (transcript)

Oh, I like the suggestion of Middleman! And this would give me a reason to buy it, so I could loan it to her.

Sorry to intrude, but this immediately sparked something I read a while back precisely about two of the shows you mentioned. There's one episode of Sarah Connor Chronicles (second season I think), where Sarah gets shot. I remember that episode's depiction of violence and pain being juxtaposed in someone's meta with the depiction of violence in the second episode of Dollhouse (where she's running away and gets hit by an arrow) and it's erotically charged depiction of violence and pain. There's also the second ep, I think of the second season which gets into skeevy gender issues, when Echo is given milk inducing (?????? I know!) hormones so she can pretend to be a baby's mom. Heh, I'd juxtapose that to Weeds, showing one mom trying to get the money from her daughters modeling contract (I'm horrible with episodes, but Weeds as a whole is awesome in taking apart notions of motherhood as natural and automatic).

BSG is also another good show to mine for discussions of gender, particularly season 1 (I forget the specific episode), where Roslin (president) and Adama (military commander) clash. Or perhaps the ep, where Starbuck is sent to torture a cylon. Sorry to be so useless about episodes. Hope this helps at least a little.

I vaguely remember reading that meta about SCC and Dollhouse, though I have no idea who wrote it. I really wish I had a better recollection of either SCC or BSG episodes, because I think both of them have interesting stuff.

Link! (I happened to have posted about it in the same entry I was reading to remind myself of an episode title for my comment below.

norwich36 pointed me to that post in the first place.)

Thanks! Especially since that essay reminded me of Women's work--I wonder if that vid is at all comprehensible to people unfamiliar with the source material?

She could probably use it alongside an episode for a really confronting discussion. Show an episode including a female victim (or part of one, as appropriate), and ask for peoples responses, and then show Women's Work and see whether their responses change and how they react.

Edited 2010-08-19 00:25 (UTC)

Other than what's already been mentioned the only episode that immediately springs to mind is the 30 Rock pilot:

Jack: Are you familiar with the GE tri-vection oven?
Liz: I don't cook very much.
Jack: Sure...I gotcha. New York, third-wave feminist, college-educated, single and pretending to be happy about it, over-scheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says 'healthy body image' on the cover, and every two years you take up knitting for... a week.
Pete: That is dead on!
Liz: What, are you going to guess my weight now?

The episode was written by Tina Fey, who has come under attack in recent years for not being a Good Feminist; this very good article discusses the backlash against her in quite a bit of depth: http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/04/14/tina_fey_backlash

Oh, I had heard that description of Liz Lemon's character, but I didn't realize it was actually part of the script! I will definitely check that out--thanks for the suggestion.

I'm having trouble thinking of things that depict feminism in itself, but one of the comments above sparked the thing I've said before about a moment in "The Stork Job" (Leverage season 1) that totally struck me: Parker's being choked by the bad guy, and where I expected Eliot (male; the muscle) to come and save her, she gets out of it herself - and then it's the other woman on the show who tells her where to go next. For me, that was a striking example of what you don't see on TV, which, if nothing else, can be used as a starting point for discussion about formulas of TV and what we learn to expect of men and women. (I have no idea if/how this fits with what your friend is doing.)

Another one I thought of (disclaimer: I haven't seen this, only heard about it from my mom at the time it aired): there's an episode of Third Watch (this summary says "Faith" from season 2) where the cop is pregnant does not want another child. Her husband is opposed to abortion. She gets into some kind of physical altercation with the suspect, gets the abortion, and tells everyone she miscarried due to the fight with the suspect.

Huh, that Third Watch episode sounds fascinating! And I'm thinking that ladydreamer's suggestions of a bunch of clips might work for my friend, so I'd definitely want to use the Stork job clip.

I am going to have to bring up the Skins episode "Naomi", which is, I think, a fab depiction of a teenage feminist.

I'm not sure I've actually heard of Skins before. What is it about?

It follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, UK. There is some controversy about it because of its portrayal of sex and drug use, but I like it because it conveys the emotions of being a teenager so well and is full of fantastically drawn characters.

Naomi is a character in the 3rd and 4th seasons of the show. The first thing we learn about her is that she hates injustice, she wants to change the world. She is also an amazing student. I think she is a fantastic example of a young feminist, and the episode that features her (S3's "Naomi") works fairly well as a stand alone. There are tons of ways of seeing the episode, if you don't just want to take my word for it.

Oh, that sounds really interesting.

I'd suggest Parks and Recreation, the main character Leslie Knope identifies as a feminist and it's actually shown as a positive thing in her life. It's not perfectly done or anything, and it's a comedy show where Leslie is a bit odd and stuff, but she's portrayed really positively and as actually caring about women and women's issues, without that being belittled or anything. I can't really think of a specific episode, sorry.

I second this suggestion - I can't believe I forgot about Leslie!!

Just scanning the episode descriptions from Season 2, and Beauty Pageant might be a good one:

"Leslie serves as a judge in the Miss Pawnee Beauty Pageant but is disappointed with the results"

Or I thought maybe episode 217 where Leslie doesn't win the women's empowerment award. I don't think either episode is perfect and I actually like P&R more for the casual bits of being pro-women that Leslie does, rather than the episodes where it's an actual main bit of the episode. But I think they'd both be pretty good for discussion.

This sounds like it might be very good--thank you!

Thanks! I hadn't realized that was a theme in the show, since I've never seen it.

I would like to suggest Life, season 1 episode 6, Powerless. Dani Reese is held hostage by a guy she arrests, the guy clearly thinks he has the upper hand because he has her gun and his emo Manpain justifies everything he's done. Reese calmly rips apart this facade when she reveals that her demons are darker and more dangerous than his and right before the cavalry bursts in to save her, she clocks him on the head with a bottle.

The second show I'd suggest is Fringe. This one started out slow but after the first half of the season really hits its stride in both story and character. There are so many episodes showcasing Olivia Dunham's awesome BAMF status I don't know where to start but... I think Bound, season 1 episode 11 would do. Previously, Olivia was captured by the group she was pursuing, Bound opens immediately after that with her FBI team scrambling to find her. Meanwhile Olivia wakes up and finds herself being wheeled in a crude laboratory and a masked man hovering over her, she gets a spinal tap out of this. As soon as the masked man leaves, Olivia begs for water from one of the lab assistants, the lab assistant hesitates but gives her one, even freeing one of her hands to drink... and then she proceeds to smash the water beaker into his faces, frees her other hand and proceeds to knock out the other two lab assistants and the guard. She leaves the facility in a run, snagging a car key as she does and then calls for back-up all before the opening credits.

But what makes Olivia fantastic is that they write her as they would and the cameras don't linger on her but the camera work treats her the same as anyone else in the show and no one (except for the requisite bureaucratic jerk) ever questions her right to lead a team. The team consists of a crazy mad genius (Walter), mad genius' genius conman son (~~Pacey~~ Peter), and the tireless lab assistant Astrid.

Usually it's the Lead Female Character who plays genius wrangler but in this show its Peter and Astrid who does and usually it's the genius men who gets the hunches that breaks the case but most of the time Olivia is the one who's able to take all these pieces together and find a connection. It's refreshing after watching so many shows with the woman playing second fiddle to a Kooky Genius Man (I'm looking at you, The Mentalist).

Thanks--I appreciate all the detail here, since it will help my friend make her decisions.

You're welcome:)

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