Sex, Models, Michelle Obama
Your second blog post assignment was to watch at leat 3 different TV Shows, post what they were and what you liked/didn't like about them.
I'll start you off with something provocative. Sex like a man. That was the topic of Carrie's column in the first episode. She wondered if the new thing for women in New York who are over thirty, rather than trying (unsuccesfully) to find a man to marry to think about giving up the "dream" and approach relationships like 'men.'
I was watching the first episode of Sex in the City (and the second). I had forgotten how smartly written it was, and this was from the first episode. It was on dvd, which is completely fine with me if you are watching previously viewed shows. What I liked about Sex and the City: 1) Frank and open discussion about sex, especially women's sexuality in public places; 2) Carrie's sex scene was not the missionary position; 3) They actually made the distinctions and comparisons (granted it was stereotypical) between coupledom in gay relationships and straight relationships.
I also watched an episode of America's Next Top Model, the most recent season and while at work I saw Larry King Live and he had Michelle Obama.
Sex in the City: Smart writing, and the conversation
America's Next Top Model (10am, MTV). Another mini marathon. In all honesty my reasons for watching ANTP have first and foremost been to see who cries and for what reason. I love tears in judging. The shattering of youthful dreams of being a supermodel. I mean I can relate. When I received that rejection letter from Rutger's University I was devastated. I saw my hopes of becoming an academic, molding young minds and spending years in libraries, reading and writing, blow away like dried leaves in a strong wind.
This was not a good example of Tyra trying to humanize the biz. Sometimes she has these reality checks, where she'll give advice about loving and appreciating your own body or she'll point out that something in dominant culture that affects the way women in general and/or women of color experience the world. That wasn't this episode.
LArry King Live. I was at work and the TV in our breakroom is always on CNN or football. So I was able to see Michelle Obama. What stuck out in my mind was that she refused to let King bait her into bad mouthing anyone. I did get the feeling that King was going to badger her or try to imply that her beign on the campaign trail with her husband, being the mother of two young girls, makes her a bad mother. She kind of nipped that in the bud with her remark about having resources and family to step in and help them, and that the lack of living wage and resources for a majority of single mothers is not possible. King made what I thought was a major stumble, when he asked her how she felt about being the first black, female first lady. It sounded like he threw in 'female' to add to black as a way to offset asking her directly about race.