Grey's Anatomy

While there are endless examples of fat female characters portrayed in an unappealing light on television, fewer and farther between are positive portrayals of female fatness. When you come across one, even if it's on an otherwise dull show, it's refreshing to see. I'd like to take in a few of those breaths of fresh air here, for your reading pleasure.

Susan Douglas's seminal 1995 book Where the Girls Are: Growing Up with the Mass Media explored how woman see and are seen in pop culture, tracing feminism in pop culture from the 1950s and '60s through the 1980s.  Her newest book, Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism’s Work is Done, revisits the subject of women's representation in the mass media, and finds a troubling series of mixed messages, empty "empowerment," and consumer imperatives masquerading as postfeminist power.

As longtime fans of Douglas's wit, irreverance, and spot-on critique, Bitch is thrilled to feature the epilogue of Enlightened Sexism. It's after the jump, as is an interview with Douglas by Andi Zeisler.

I’ve been avoiding Grey’s Anatomy for 5 seasons now, but with critics bemoaning the show’s rapid demise (as in sex scenes with a g-g-ghost!) I decided to check it out while I still could. Best case scenario: It’s so bad it’s good. Worse case scenario: It’s offensive enough to warrant a scathing blog post.

But, to my surprise, neither was true...