Recently in Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah Category
**Also, something I didn't mention-a shout out to my undergraduate adviser at the Women's Studies Department at SUNY Albany, Vivien Ng, who I saw after 10 years and facilitated me in finding my feminist courage to speak on intersectionality.
Via The Advocate and Akimbo:
"The United States is one of a dozen countries that bar people with HIV from entering the country," Obama said as he announced the lifting of the U.S. policy banning travel and immigration to the U.S. by people who are HIV-positive.
"If we want to be the global leader in HIV, we need to act like it."
This should go a long way towards battling the seemingly ubiquitous stigma and discrimination HIV-positive people face worldwide. What a great way to end the week!
Congrats to American Idol! They've just upped the ante on their already-hugely successful show by bringing on Ellen DeGeneres: comedian extraordinaire, media mogul, talk show host, inspirational speaker, prolific dancer, same sex marriage advocate, and all around bad ass woman.
I'm a huge fan of this decision because I think Ellen is hilarious and lovable and her presence will most likely make me enjoy the show a lot more on those (rare I swear!) occasions that I tune in. But it seems like the move has also spurred something of a different reaction in the blogosphere and beyond: namely, that of questioning:
Will Ellen DeGeneres make American Idol "gayer"?
One problem with this question that I'm going to have to point out right away is that- and I'm truly sorry to break this to you America- American Idol is already pretty, really, very gay.
Another thing is that the presence of someone queer does not always a "gayer" show make, just as the presence of a person of color doesn't always make the show more geared towards people of color, or even necessarily more tolerant of them.
This is especially true if that person is tokenized, toned down, glossed over, marginalized, or heavily censured, all of which I hope Ellen is not subjected to on American Idol.
That being said, she's already given interviews in which she alluded to being "the people's judge," and for this reason and more I am hopeful and optimistic that Ellen's presence will make the show more queer friendly and just generally more tolerant and inclusive.
So I'd like to devote a huge Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah to the intelligent and- dare I say- progressive decision of American Idol to choose such a down to earth, inspirational, and compassionate queer feminist as the newest addition to their show.
Transcript after the jump
