Musicals are my escape. When the world feels crazy, I dive in and have them playing in the background while I work. And, well...the world is crazy right now. I like musicals in all forms, movies, live recordings, and TV shows. Right now, I am watching Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. I'm on season 2, episode 6, Zoey's Extraordinary Reckoning.
This episode tackles the issue of racial bias in the tech industry, specifically on the lack of representation and the experiences of BIPOC employees. It focuses on Simon, a black man who heads up the marketing team at SPRQ Point. In the previous episode, Simon called out the company's blind spots. In this episode, the board wants him to retract his statement cause they feel he's the only one experiencing this. That is until Tobin, an Indian man on the coding team, posts his experience on social media, prompting BIPOC employees worldwide to come forward with their stories. It's a great topic to tackle on the show and one that should have been. But here's the thing, the show overlooked one opportunity: Women in Technology. If you hadn't heard (and how could you have not), on Saturday, April 5, there was a massive "Hands off" protest across the country and internationally. We were gonna go, but one of our cats wasn't feeling well, so we stayed home with her instead. Based on what I've heard of crowd size, it may have been a good thing as my anxiety probably wouldn't have handled it well.
Since I couldn't attend, I thought I would write out my list of hands-off items. A list that wouldn't have fit onto a single sign. And the entertainment industry needs to stop using it as a plot point. There are other ways to traumatize a woman without resorting to Rape.
*Trigger Warning* Case in point: My husband and I have been doing a Star Trek movie marathon. I hadn't seen the originals as I became a Trekkie with TNG, so we figured why not. The other day, we watched Star Trek: Nemesis. There is a scene where Troi and Riker are making love and the bad guy invades her mind psychically raping her. The scene was meant to divulge the psych ability of the enemy that she then later uses to locate their cloaked shipped. There was no reason the scene needed to be that violent, it didn't push her character forward and it didn't add to the plot. It was a detail that could have been discovered in a less dramatic but still traumatizing way. March 25, 2025, marked Equal Pay Day, the day women working full-time caught up with what their male counterparts earned the previous year. I find this sad for two reasons: 1) I didn't even know there was an Equal Pay Day, and 2) There is, in fact, an Equal Pay Day.
The pay gap between women and men is so prevalent that there is a need to acknowledge Equal Pay Day. This is why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is needed, to remove disparities like this. A Father is a PARENT.
Let me start by saying I am not a mother. My husband and I don't have kids and have decided not to. However, I am a feminist and can identify when things are not equal between a woman and a man. Why is it that when a mother stays home with the kids, she's taking care of them, but when a father stays home with the kids, he's simply "babysitting" them? I hear this all the time in TV shows and movies and, in turn, have heard it in real life. Having babies. This is the statement I heard on a season 1 episode of Quantum Leap (the 1989 version).
Every once in a while, I like to revisit old shows I watched as a kid. It's nostalgic, and as an adult, I take the time to analyze them and perhaps see them for what they are. I'm currently doing that with Quantum Leap. I was 10 when it came out. I'm on Episode 5: How the Tess was one. Let's set the scene for this annoying statement: Tess is an accomplished cowgirl whose father, Chance, pushes her to marry a cowboy and inherit his 50,000-acre ranch. Tess is adamantly opposed to marriage but agrees to marry any man who can beat her in a cowboy contest. She picks Sam. The challenges are roping and wrangling cattle, poker, and pole digging. Warming: This post happily violates the list of words the current administration deems too "woke" to use. RE: The New York Times Article.
Contrary to what misogyny would have you believe, being a feminist doesn't mean I hate men. I don't secretly think that men are inferior to women. I don't want to remove men from leadership positions or turn all men into househusbands. Being a Feminist means that I want all of us to succeed. I want all of us to be leaders or stay-at-home parents if that is what we choose. I want all of us to be seen and treated as equals. |
Welcome to HopefullyMAD. Here, I share my thoughts and opinions on topics that are important to me.
Why did I choose the name HopefullyMAD? Right now, I am MAD at the world and its treatment of human beings. Nobody should be made to feel less than. But I am also Hopeful. Without hope, what is there to fight for? I fight because of my hope for a better world. Why not MADhopeful? Here's why; because I hope that you are MAD too. I hope that you are so MAD that you join me and others in this fight for our rights back. Be hopeful. Be MAD. Be HopefullyMAD. Categories
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