By Drew Grant 12/06/12 12:58pm

As Seen On TV

You don't want Rick Grimes as your boyfriend (AMC)

The Walking Dead Might Actually Kill You Now

Have you noticed that in the last several years, most of the “brilliant” TV shows on AMC, Showtime and HBO star these dangerous, psychopathic anti-heroes? From Dexter to Don Draper, Nick Brody to Rick Grimes, Walter White to the ultimate don, Tony Soprano, one gets the sense that while the rest of American culture is taking one step forward on progressive women’s rights issues, our beloved TV shows are moving us two steps back.

And what’s weird is how we love these horrible men. “I’m such a Carrie” no longer refers to the ultimate Bradshaw, but the bipolar Claire Danes on Homeland … the kind of gal who falls in love with a terrorist, despite the fact that he ends up subjecting her to electro-shock therapy treatments after they have sex. And they are still in love, or something! How sexy is that, ladies?

But wait, it gets worse… Read More

By Drew Grant 10/26/12 6:34pm

Feminist Counterpoint

Housewife Aviva Drescher and social critic Camille Paglia (Getty Images)

Aviva Drescher Responds to Camille Paglia’s Love of Feminist Housewives

Two weeks ago, feminist Camille Paglia did an interview with Salon.com in which she came out as the world’s biggest fan of The Real Housewives franchise, calling it “a revelation of the deep truth about female sexuality.” She added:

It’s like the Discovery Channel—sending a camera to the African savannah to watch the cheetahs stalking the gazelles! What you’re seeing is the primal battles going on among women. Men are marginalized on these shows—they’re eye candy, to use Obama’s phrase, on the borderlines of the ferocity of female sexuality.

We decided to call up Aviva Drescher, RHONY’s newest villainess (though we still think she’s very nice), to get her reaction to the compliment. Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/29/12 3:30pm

Propaganda

Megan Kelly

‘Women of Fox News’ Chain-Mail Propaganda: What’s Wrong With This Email?

It’s odd to see chain-email forwards in 2012; they seem like a relic of the late ’90s, when email was still the best way to share information with a mass of people one knew (as opposed to, say, Facebook in 2012). More often than not, they seemed intent on propagating something, whether it was a belief, a superstition or an awful joke that parents find funny.

We found ourselves on the receiving end of one today, however, that struck a chord of curiosity from one person who sent it on. Read More

By Mike Edison 8/14/12 12:55pm

opinion

Helen Gurley Brown in 2001 (Getty).

Screw’s Former Editor-in-Chief—In Praise of Helen Gurley Brown

As a single man, I live for the single girl.

With the passing of Helen Gurley Brown, the original Cosmo girl, the old debates about her retro-progressive, sex-positive brand of feminism will be rekindled. And even as she is lauded as a catalyst for a spectacular wave of newfound sexual empowerment among a gender that was often brow-beaten and moralized into frigid submission, she may well perpetually be reviled by the old-school feminist cadres whose humorlessness almost ruined feminism for the rest of us. Read More

By Drew Grant 10/28/11 9:10am

Occupy Wall Street

A woman, Occupying Wall Street

Objecting or Objectified? At Occupy Wall Street Women Get Attention, But Not Always for Their Message

Ugh, women. Can’t they go five minutes without ruining a rally against corporate greed with their claims of inter-protest misogyny, objectification, and rape?

When filmmaker Steven Greenstreet created his Tumblr Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street in mid-October, he was attempting to show “the sexy side of protesting.” Unsurprisingly, his site was only up for a day before feminist blogs tore into the “creepy voyeur” for what they perceived as a sexist objectification of women – many of whom were photographed apparently without their knowledge or consent. Read More

By Foster Kamer 9/20/11 11:11am

There's No Crying In Baseball

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Moneyball Advertising Irking Feminist Sensibilities: "Tell Your Guy It's A Baseball Movie"

Michael Lewis’ math-nerds-on-steroids baseball book Moneyball hits theaters on Friday with a whole bunch of buzz behind it! Mainly, (1) Brad Pitt’s an Oscar contender for his performance, but (2) in retrospect the book’s legacy and value to the sport of baseball is chronically overvalued and widely misunderstood. Now it has a new kind of buzz: pissed-off women insulted by the idea that they can’t enjoy a baseball movie! Read More

By Drew Grant 9/15/11 4:05pm

Female Comedy

Whitney Cummings in her new show about lady stuff.

Internet Attacks Whitney Cummings' Pilot Prior to Premiere

Ouch. Here we thought were in the post-Bridesmaid era of empowering female comedy, what with TV’s new fall lineup revolving around such quirky leading ladies as Zooey Deschanel (Fox’s New Girl), Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs (CBS’ 2 Broke Girls) and Whitney Cummings (NBC’s Whitney). But maybe America just isn’t ready to have a sitcom where boys aren’t the main focus, since despite not airing until September there is already an online petition to get Whitney canceled. Read More