As I mentioned in my post about The X-Files, The Twilight Zone was a favorite show of mine in my own youth. When I set out to cover childhood in spooky entertainment, I was curious to see what childhood looked like on The Twilight Zone. I could not remember many episodes that featured kids. When … Continue reading
Happy October! Welcome to the spooky season and part one of a four-part series looking at girlhood in some of my favorite spooky entertainment. This week, I am taking a look at girlhood on The X-Files (do do do do do doooo). Girlhood on The X-Files I have such good memories of The X-Files from … Continue reading
This week #CancelNetflix was trending on Twitter in response to the release of a French film by Afro-French director, Maimouna Doucoure, Mignonnes, or as it is called here in the U.S., Cuties. The film focuses on an eleven-year-old immigrant from Senegal who becomes “fascinated” by a dance troupe and their provocative style. Those who want … Continue reading
I, too, was called bossy growing up. I am still sometimes called bossy. Sometimes I call myself bossy. Sometimes I am bossy. Now that the seemingly required disclaimer about my own personal history with “bossy” is covered, I would like to say this: I think “Ban Bossy” is disempowering. This is not to say that … Continue reading
Happy International Women’s Day! This morning I watched Girl Rising for the first time in a year and was just as moved as I was when I saw it in theaters. I’m spending the rest of my day doing edits on an essay about the feminicide and my dissertation prospectus about American schoolgirls in narratives … Continue reading
So, as I wrote about last year (Girls and Oscar Night 2013), given the general shortage of great, serious roles for girls in the film industry, 2013 was a good year for girls in film. (And for me, as I won the Oscar pool with my friends. 🙂 ) 2014, not so much. This year … Continue reading
Last year Amy Odell at Buzzfeed posted an article, “How Pinterest is Killing Feminism,” which spawned related articles such as this one at Feminspire. I’m going to sidestep how annoying it is that everyone wants to say feminism is dead or dying all the time. (It’s alive and well, thanks. And online. #Femfuture) The articles, … Continue reading
Spending the first portion of my summer sick in bed gave me the opportunity to do something I’d been meaning to do for sometime. I reviewed Mad Men in a condensed timeframe, watching particularly for the development of Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka). I’m drawn to Sally for various reasons. She’s a fascinating character for thinking … Continue reading
Tomorrow, bright and early, I’m headed to Cleveland for the Latina Feminisms Roundtable with my classmate Rachel and our professor Julie. It is going to be an intense, informative, and exciting experience. Each paper is given 40 minutes, 25 for reading and 15 for questions, so it’s a longer format and more focused attention on … Continue reading
Or, better ways to say “you’re too hard on yourself” This post brought to you from that post-semester haze in which I transition into my slower-paced winter break conference paper writing and research, tempered with a Top Chef bender. I’ve often noted in my work the tendency to call girls bossy or dramatic when their … Continue reading
Ph.D.s and Pigtails 