Uncensored: Bloggging HBO's Girls [Episode #1: Pilot]

This is what a groovy lifestyle looks like.
Photo via Death And Taxes

It's here! I bet you thought I forgot, but as promised, here is the first installment in my review series of HBO's GIRLS! I've decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of a straight review, I've enlisted my favourite cousin Ianthe (who is awesome, and with whom I will soon be starting a TV review blog! YAY!) to live blog each episode. We'll be watching each episode together in real time, (from different countries! technology!) and then putting our reactions, along with our slightly more thought out analysis, and some awesomely inappropriate screen-caps together for your enjoyment.

These comments are entirely conversational, and a lot of them are literally just us talking and responding to each other, so please don't judge us if we sound ridiculous. (Also, it was super late when we put this together so please forgive the occasional typo!) We both loved this show, and  we thought, as the target audience, we'd talk about our perspectives of the characters, their situations, and how it relates to our own lives.

Pink text is Cate (me) and purple text is Ianthe (awesome). So, do enjoy! And don't be shy about getting involved. Have you seen the show? What did you think? How did you enjoy the Pilot? Let us know in the comments. There is awesome sexy sex to be had after the jump! 

Feminism: 4 Kickass Female Characters Who Have it All

Recently, there have been a spate of articles about whether or not women can have it all. Not only do I think the answer is YES, I'm a little insulted that we're even still having this conversation.

Women are warriors in every single way. The important thing to note is that not everyone's "all" is the same. Not every woman wants 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. Some women are totally okay living it up with their huge group of girls,* or dedicating their lives to a career that they love.

Don't believe me? Here are some great examples of (albeit fictional) women who are kicking ass and taking names, and encouraging us to do the same. 

Deborah Morgan (Dexter)

Jennifer Carpenter as Deb Morgan
via Wikipedia

At the start of the series, Deb is a police officer working undercover as a prostitute on the vice squad of the Miami Metro Police Department alongside older brother Dexter. Six seasons later, through excellent police work, determination to succeed and a sharp eye, she's been promoted to Detective and then Lieutenant. One of Deb's prominent characteristics is her persistence, and it keeps her moving upwards in her career even when she faces personal tragedies. See: Serial killer fiancé, murdered boyfriend and sister-in-law, getting shot and kidnapped, and *SPOILER!* falling in love with adoptive brother Dexter and seeing him murder someone. But never mind all that... At the end of the day, Deb is a foul-mouthed detective who knows what she wants and goes after it. She's succeeded in her career because it makes her happy to prove herself as competent. No kids or husband in sight. For her "having it all" means being an excellent police officer, and putting criminals behind bars, and that's perfectly fine. Deb is happy being of service to the city she loves, and for her, it's all she needs.

Betty Suarez (Ugly Betty)

America Ferriera as Betty Suarez
via Wikipedia

Betty Suarez starts the series as an aspiring writer, fresh from college, thrown into the shark pit of fashion. Working as the assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Betty proves her worth over and over by coming up with quick solutions to problems, and continuously showing commitment to her job. By the end of the series, Betty has moved to England to start her dream job as the the Features Editor of an newly founded magazine. For Betty, "having it all" has always meant becoming a writer. She used her experiences at Mode to learn and grow, and to help her understand the ups and downs of the magazine industry. Through her ups and downs and various relationships, she never lost sight of her ultimate goal. Her stellar work ethic and dedication paid off, and in the end she was rewarded.

Cristina Yang (Grey's Anatomy)

Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang
via Hayley Hawkinson

Cristina Yang is a surgeon. She is brilliant and talented and driven and it's what defines her. After passing her boards, Cristina has several employment offers from hospitals across the country, a fact that she wickedly lourdes over her fellow doctors' heads. Even though she's been to hell and back at Seattle Grace/Mercy West, she's kept her eye on the prize, even in the face of the dissolution of her marriage. Cristina knows herself. When she became pregnant, she fought tooth and nail to make Owen understood that children were not part of the plan she had for herself, and to try to make him understand why she needed to abort. And when she found out that he cheated, although she still loved him, she made the best decision for herself by leaving the hospital to go to the Mayo Clinic. Cristina understands that in order to be happy, she needs to be okay with her personal decisions. For her "having it all" meant a job she loved and a husband who loved her. When Owen betrayed her, she didn't fall apart. She simply readjusted her plans to fit the new circumstances. After last season's cliff hanger, anything can happen, but I think it's safe to say that we can count on Cristina to know that she needs to look after her own self interests first, before trying please everyone else in her life. It's a lesson many women could stand to learn.

Leslie Knope (Parks & Recreation)

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope
via Tauntr.com

Leslie Knope is an overachiever, and of all the women on this list, she is the only one who refuses to compromise. She knows what she wants and she will have it dammit! Perky and affable, Leslie is an avowed feminist who aspires to higher office, and has numerous female role models. (whose faces sit framed around her office.) Leslie loves her town Pawnee, and strives to do everything she can to make it a better place to live, with an enthusiasm that even Ron Swanson would approve of. When she fell in love with a co-worker and began dating him against city policy, she fought to save her relationship, even after they initially broke up to save their jobs. When a campaign team dropped her as a candidate for City Council, her friends and co-workers rallied around her to replace them, knowing how dedicated she was to pubic service. For Leslie "having it all" means being an advocate for the city that she loves, celebrating her friends and being with Ben, the man she loves.


So there you have it. Kick ass women doing kick ass things. What do you think? Are there any other awesome female characters you think I should have included? Who are your favourite kick ass ladies? Let me know in the comments below.

*I'm not advocating this kind of behavior, I just think that video is hilarious... :)

Uncensored: Is Chester French's Black Girls Video Problematic?

So here's my issue: I think I quite like this song, but I'm not sure if I should.

I hadn't heard of Chester French before I found this video, so I don't know if this is within the expected range of where her music and imagery usually falls, but it feels a little uncomfortable to me.

Chester French's Black Girls video is beautifully shot (and NSFW so watch out!) but the premise makes me bit uneasy. The song is about loving (and sleeping with) black women, because they're so uniquely beautiful. Awesome right? Maybe not.

My problem with the video is that it seems to exoticize and fetishize black women, even though the lyrics say that's exactly what it's trying not to do. In the video, French is seen flirting with and kissing (among other NSFW things) a gorgeous black woman. There's nothing wrong with this in and of itself. People have sex.

However, I'm not sure how the nakedness of black woman adds to the narrative of her beauty. The portrayal of the sexuality of black women at the hands of white counterparts has a long, sad and negative history, and it can be painful to be reminded of the objectification that many black women face even today.

Necessitating that this gorgeous woman be naked in the video, places the emphasis squarely on her sexuality. That says to me, "Chester French likes black women because she thinks they're hot." Not "Chester French like this black woman because she's likes her personality and she's an awesome person to be around." Suddenly, the narrative is all about how sexy this woman is instead of about why French would be interested in her in the first place.

Then come the actual lyrics. The second verse reads:

Well I have tried to taste the rainbow in my life
I've sampled many different flavors I enjoy
It's not to say I wouldn't settle down with Sally
Dilly dally with her heart like it's my toy
I've been to England a few times
And it's common over there
Plus the whole world's turning brown and who cares

And there's my problem. A black woman is a person, not a novelty. She is not one of many to be "sampled" so that you can choose your favourite. I dislike the idea that interracial relationships should happen because they're hip. They should happen because race ceases to become a considering factor in the viability of a relationship.

I highly doubt that French meant to offend, and I can honestly say that the video is gorgeous. The problem is that I think the video ignores some very important social problems and prejudices, and I'm not sure if I'm okay with that.

What do you think of the video? Am I reading too much into this? Or am I right to feel uneasy? Let me know in the comments below.

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Uncensored: Blogging HBO's Girls

I'm giving in. 

Since Girls premiered on HBO back in April, I've heard everything from praise to condemnation for the show. Some say the show's creator Lena Dunham is the "voice of a generation", others say that the show is whiter than white bread, and that it's a problem.

Since I was still in college when the show premiered, (and really, I was already watching too much TV) I decided that I was going to let this show pass me by. I wasn't going to watch. And since so many other sources had endlessly catalouged all the ways in which this show was ignoring me, a young, college-educated,  twenty-something female (who wanted to be) living in New York, and was BLACK, I figured, why support a show that doesn't support me?

But then I caught an episode. Episode 2: Vagina Panic to be specific. And it was hilarious. From "all the stuff on the side of condoms" to "throwing the best abortion ever", I was reminded so much of all the non-PC conversations that I have with my girlfriends in the privacy of our own little sphere of the world.

And I won't lie; the stark whiteness of the protagonists did bother me. It was definitely in the back of my mind. But what was in the forefront of my mind was the witty dialogue, the utter ridiculousness of half the things coming out of Lena Dunham's mouth, and the all too familiar situations surrounding sex and relationships.

Dunham's Girls might not represent every part of my personality, and I may not relate to every situation these girls find themselves in, but I can relate to the twenty-something experience, and so far, it looks like the show delivers on that, if nothing else.

I'm looking forward to watching (and writing about) the rest of the season.

Away I go!

*****

PS: My Girls recaps will all be posted under the Uncensored tag. I've been saying for a while that I wanted to include more of myself in this blog, and I think this a great solution. Uncensored will be all the stuff that may not necessarily be PC, or in line with what a fashion blog might post, but it'll be my spot to rant about things that bother me. I'll be sneaking my feminist flag in there at some point. Sometimes it'll be NSFW, sometimes it'll be controversial, sometimes it'll be politics, and sometimes it'll be straight feminist fare. But it'll be all me, all the time. 

Additionally, I have a lot of opinions on a lot of things, and I've never felt like I was able to post them here, in my own space, which is utterly ridiculous. Every girls needs a safe space to say words like "fuck" and "vagina", and generally swear to the high heavens without having to worry about the pearl clutchers. This is mine. I'm posting Girls here because just one episode has let me know that I'm going to need a safe space to talk about dirty things and say dirty words. When I'm made it through all 10 episodes, I'll move on to other things. I'm weirdly excited. :)

Multimedia: Mizery Loves Company

This was my final project for my multimedia class. I had the most fun working on this, and I was able to explore a culture that I've been fascinate by forever. Mizery was an amazing performer and an engaging person, and I'm so glad that I got to meet her and talk to her about her experiences.