Well I have learned some new things, how enlightening. Half of domestic abuse is perpetrated by women. The Vagina Monologues is about predatory women sexually abusing boys. Lifetime's agenda wreaks havoc on marriages...

Something tells me this guy didn't get hugged enough as a child.

Where do I sign up for this Radical Feminist Lobbying Machine??!!??

Lifetime TV=radical feminism? hmmm..that's a first.

I read the article about 30 minutes ago and I'm still having trouble grasping the fact that he said its our own fault if we're abused. What an asshole.

"Lifetime TV Becomes Mouthpiece For Radical Feminist Lobbying Machine"

I wish. Imagine the programming. Twisty could do the morning show.

I don't know much about Lifetime, but it's consistently been a criticism magnet for misogynists over the years, so there's got to be something there that's making them angry. I suspect it has to do with having female characters, some of whom are over 25, in more than decorative roles.

Lifetime = Learn to be a Victim and Get Tons of Synmpathy... television for women.

Did anyone catch the part where he compares Lifetime to the KKK?

This guy needs to get a serious grip.

Oh my god, is this guy INSANE? He certainly seems it. He talks about wild statistics and yet I don't think he provides a single stat or reference for his own wild allegations.

And I have to ask-- it's been a little while since I've read The Vagina Monologues, but I certainly don't remember any passages condoning the rape of young boys. Does anyone know what he's referring to?

w00t! to Feminist Review. Lifetime is some of the most unfeminist programming I've ever seen, for many reasons. First, a lot of their movies reinforce the 'have sex once and you're a dirty whore and horrible, horrible things will happen to you' idea. And secondly, most of them end up being rescued from their situations. Even if it may at first seem empowering, when you take a good look at it all, it's still reinforcing the stereotype of women as victims who need to be saved by either a man or an older, wiser married woman.

My favorite part is how he believes that corporate media has a responsibility to provide marriage building policies to help women deal with their "issues" that include: the two-year baby blues, the four-year boredom, the seven-year itch, the fifteen-year mid-life crisis, retirement, and menopause.
Everything else (like the real problem of violence against women) is just propaganda, and did I forget to mention that feminists are equivalent to the KKK?
This stuff just doesn't make any sense!

Cara - I think he may have been up to his usual tricks of not knowing what the hell he's talking about. There is a monologue in which a younger woman, probably in her teens although I don't think it's really said, makes love with an adult woman who is probably in her late twenties to mid-thirties by the sound of it. He may be referring to this one and just got the facts wrong, as usual. That monologue is a lightning rod for conservatives who seize it to claim that the play "encourages the rape of young girls."

David Usher has eaten a bowl of stupid for breakfast. And he has issues, and is crying for help.

I vaguely remember the monologue you're talking about, soupcann. Thanks. That's a pretty severe confusion of facts, if that is what he's referring to. Though based on the rest of this article, that doesn't suprise me a single bit.

not meaning to minimize anyones experiences with mental illness at all BUT this guy should seriously be locked up somewhere. he sounds like a sociopath who forgot to take his anti-psychotics. i cannot believe such inarticulate rambling gets (at least semi-)professionally published.

my favorite part was where he claims that don imus didnt actually hurt anyone. becos he totally knos via psychic powers how ALL women feel, especially the ones imus actually spoke about.

what a freakin' tool.

Oh and I definitely agree with the commenters who mention how unfeminist Lifetime really is. Makes his article even more perplexing, really.

Lifetime "for women" is really bizarre and it does make me sad that this is what women are supposed to be entertained by- crappy made-for-tv movies in which someone inevitably gets raped, beaten, cheated on, otherwise victimized or becomes a vigilante advocating for children (protecting them from pedophiles, drugs, prostitution, eating disorders, mean girls, etc, etc)...

But man, sometimes it is really good for a laugh. Bad Lifetime movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. I recommend "Not My Life!" with the girl from Dawson's Creek. Or "The Invisible Child!" with Rita Wilson. :) The overacting, crazy dialogue, melodramatic (sometimes irrational) plot structures, and cheesy background music in these things make them just irrestible.

Lifetime? You gotta be kidding me! Take your pick, it's either Tracy Gold/Tracy Nelson/Melissa Gilbert/Etc as victim of the week or the Tori Spelling type "I was a teenage callgirl" movie of the week crap. These things make afterschool specials look deep.

Wait... people actually watch Lifetime??

But... it's so... BORING.

Seriously, if Lifetime is our soapbox... dude's really got NOTHING to worry about.

What a turd-tastic little joke this guy is. Dr. Freud would have a field day.

"...holds women responsible for the half of domestic violence they DO initiate"

???!!!!!! I'm curious as to what this "initiation" of violence is. Holy cow.

Sigh.

I can't make fun of Lifetime any more, because lately I've been watching it. I actually like "Blood Ties" (I'm a fan of the books the show is based on.)

I definitely agree that Lifetime is in no way a channel that promotes feminism or feminist ideas. If anything it promotes the patriarchy/status quo. "Blood Ties" actually provides a fairly good example of this--in most of the areas in which the show differs from the books, the changes appear to have been made for the sake of sexism. The very independant and feminist protagonist of the books is "rescued" a lot more by her male allies in the show, instead of sleeping with both of them, she's sleeping with neither, and while jealously between them over her is a factor even in the books, in the show there's a lot more macho chest-beating going on. In addition, the bisexual male character's strict hetero-ness has been clearly verbally stated on at least 2 occasions, and the character of his occasional same-sex partner has been written out entirely, replaced by a bevy of pretty ladies with (apparently) loose morals.

All that aside, it's still probably the most feminist show on Lifetime. Admittedly, that's not saying much.

death of a cheerleader=awesome. and tori spelling's in it! what would a lifetime movie be w/out tori spelling or melissa joan hart. hah

Wow, what a fucking moron. The stupid. It hurts.

As someone who's also read the Blood Ties books, what Vervain said (though I still think they did a good job capturing Vicki's sometimes abrasive character).
What strikes me about Usher is that he writes as if innocent people being jailed is something that only happens in rape cases. But it wouldn't surprise me in the least if his concern for the Duke athletes wasn't reflected in concern for people falsely accused of murder or drug dealing.

Shadow32 - I agree with you there; it's certainly a far better adaptation of a fiction series than, say, "The Dresden Files" on SciFi. *shudder*

As for the article, I found this line amusing:
"Three young men nearly went to prison for thirty years based on no evidence whatsoever."

I don't think they nearly went to prison. I don't think they were ever even close. Public opinion was pretty strongly on their side, especially once it became clear the evidence was sparse-to-nonexistent. As such, that statement is pure hyperbole.

It wasn't until my conversion to radical feminism that I stopped really watching Lifetime. (Although I do like a good LMN movie on occasion.) Lifetime really just rebroadcasts made-for-TV movies (She Woke Up Pregnant, anyone?). To hear this misogynist, who probably thinks the "Man Law" commercials are the funniest thing in existance, speak about a freaking soft-core feminist network like it's the mouthpiece for radicalism is both annoying and amusing. (And I second having Twisty host a morning show! Hot damn.)

I'm still totally addicted to The Golden Girls, and Strong Medicine was good in the first few seasons (after Rick Schroeder joined, I stopped watching).

roro80, I had the same thought. This guy's probably enough of an asshat that he thinks saying "honey, I'm just not in the mood right now" counts as initiating domestic violence.

Those of you looking for the ultimate bad Lifetime movie, don't need to go any farther than the classic Mother, May I Sleep with Danger starring the incomparable Tori Spelling.

As Law Fairy and I have discussed in a different thread, if you want feminism and powerful female characters what you need is Battlestar Galactica, which airs on the Sci Fi channel, not Lifetime. Although it's currently on hiatus until Jan. 2008 (WHY?!?!) it's certainly far more feminist than anything on Lifetime ever dreams of being. Women aren't punished for sleeping around, being tough, and are even respected for their skills despite "loose morals" (Starbuck and Kat). Females in positions of authority act with all the moral ambiguity of their male counterparts with no repercussions due to their genders (Helena Caine and President Roslin). It's really fantastic. I think this guy's head would explode if he ever caught an episode.

Well, unless he caught one of the shows that features a woman beating the shit out of a guy. Then he'd just point to it to prove he was right.

To quote one of the best movies ever, "Heathers,:" "Did he have a brain tumor for breakfast?"

It's just one of those articles that so far afield all I can think is, "Well, you can't argue with that logic. *snort*"

Genny: ((hugs))

How will we make it to next January???

TLF right now I'm working on a steady stream of DVDs and denial. I threw something at my television set when I saw the "January 2008" graphic (which I also did when Starbuck... you know? Maybe? I guess we have to wait more than 6 months to find out for real). It's just not fair.

Also, isn't there a marathon coming up in May? I need to find out when that is so I can stock up and not leave my apartment all day.

Oooh, is there? I hadn't heard. I know there's the TV movie in September, but that's just about Pegasus, so none of the "real" answers we're looking for.

Like you, I'm living off of DVDs and Friday night reruns on my TiVo.

Wow the ignorance of that article is astounding. I especially liked the end where he rants about human trafficking (like denouncing slavery somehow is insulting to men?? and its true that there are few prosecutions but its very difficult to prosecute and going after trafficking is a very bipartisan issue).

As for Lifetime, its not bad if you consider it a parody. There is porn with better acting and plots. My favourite are the mother-daughter ones - always good for a laugh or three.

I don't have cable but I only watch Lifetime for The Golden Girls. I grew up watching that show & I really think it's made me the feminist that I am today. I'm seriously considering making a Sophia Petrillo Halloween costume.
I've never watched Battlestar Galactica but I'm a huge Xena fan--does Sci Fi still show Xena? My main girl-power show I watch is Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Except the last few dreadful seasons). That's why it always pisses me off when buffythewhite posts here--Buffy Summers is way cooler than her.

Oh, re: bad Lifetime movies, my personal favorite is My Stepson, My Lover.

Coming to the discussion late but yes, this man is insane. I also have no idea how he figures that women initiate their "own" abuse unless he believes that women are more violent than men and are the ones doing the beating, rather than starting a fight that gets them beaten. Though he's a moron either way.

And Law Fairy and Genny, I too am a BSG fan and am looking forward to 2008 where there will probably be 22 straight episodes as opposed to a season broken in half. Go President Rosalin.

She Woke Up Pregnant! My Stepson, My Lover! Mother May I Sleep With Danger?

Who comes up with this shit? And who in the hell is dumb enough to think anything like that is feminist?

BTW - I plan on devoting a small portion of my all-too-short summer vacation to ensuring that I see all of these movies - I am a sucker for cheap novel trash turned TV movie of the week trash.

I think Jim Gaffigan summed up Lifetime best.

"Tune in for the movie of the week as Merideth Baxter-Bierney gets beaten with a rod."

What cracks me up about this guy is he'll try and back up his generalizations by linking to articles from organizations he contends reinforce his point, the articles of course have nothing to do with what he's talking about.

I don't want to spam, so I won't link to it, but for the curious you can find an example of it on my own site. This dude is pretty far removed from reality.