NBC has apparently run out of original, creative, or even funny material for their fall line-up. Whitney, a new series debuting this fall, is a sitcom about "a happily unmarried couple" that "tries to have a relationship... in a world that expects a more traditional approach". Not the most original premise for a sitcom. The offense of this series however, is not its unoriginality in the plot department, but the sexist message NBC is sending in promoting the series. Trailers for the sitcom found on the NBC website are of the main character Whitney providing relationship advice to women on sex, wedding etiquette, and to how to truly punish your man by making him listen to you. Billboards for the show can be found stating that "[w]omen are like emotional ninjas. 'I'm fine' means I'm going to stab you in the neck". In other words, take what women say with a grain a salt, because they never say what they really mean. NBC might think that having sexist dialogue come from the mouth of a female character excuses it from being misogynist and offensive; but it doesn't, it makes it worse. Masquerading the message that "women never say what they mean" or that "women don't know what they want", as a tutorial how-to for women in relationships, sends a message that women actually believe that they are indecisive, feel bad about it, and therefore feel the need to provide men with the secret to deciphering female speech! Just because the offensive speech is coming from the mouth of a woman, promoting a sitcom with the messaging that women are indecisive and never speak their mind, is not the same as reclaiming the word cunt or dyke; it's the exact opposite. It creates a hostile environment and implies that the decision and voice of a woman should be ignored; that what a woman says has little bearing on what she actually means and therefore can be interpreted at will. But to what extent and at whose expense is this message meant for interpretation? Beyond creating a pattern of miscommunication, messaging like this belittles a woman's right to her own autonomy. Whether in public or in private, the message sent puts women in danger of sexual harassment and violence. A “no” no longer means “no” if women are portrayed as never saying what they really mean, and that is a scary message for a sitcom to be endorsing. It’s doubtful that NBC had any of this in mind when promoting their new series; but that’s not really the point. What matters is that the negative portrayal of women in the media should not be the norm. It shouldn’t be the light bulb idea that goes off in some exec’s head when thinking of how to best promote a sitcom. It should never be the “go-to” in any form of media. Whether you're dressing women in leopard print bathing suits to sell cars or portraying women as being chronically indecisive to launch a sitcom, it’s all the same. It's all sexist, no matter whose mouth it comes from. But it makes you wonder this: where is the line drawn? Where do images produced in the media, go from being profitable, to socially irresponsible?

Where is the Versatility?

Maybe I'm getting old, maybe I'm getting bored with the city, or maybe I wish there was more than one lesbian bar that was centrally located, somewhat my kind of crowd, and special enough for a friend's bday. There just aren't a ton of options. Ok, I know that there are options, but not a ton.

A woman once told me that the reason that they aren't any lesbian bars, or that the lesbians bars don't last, is because lesbians pair off, shack up, and then never go out again. I think she was only partially right. I on the other hand, and my partner, and our small group of friends for that matter, prefer to pack ourselves into a tiny bar where it is guaranteed a sloshed faux hawk will spill beer on your foot. It's a good thing that we are more the flipflop kind of lesbians and not the manolo blahnik type, am I right?