New Bitch Flicks Regular Contributor: Lady T

Greetings and salutations. I’m Lady T and I’m thrilled to have been invited to be a regular contributor at Bitch Flicks. You may remember me from such guest posts as “Willow Rosenberg: Geek, Interrupted,” “Why Watch Romantic Comedies?“, and “Easy A: A Fauxminist Film”. I blog at The Funny Feminist, where I analyze media (mostly comedies) from a feminist perspective and smash trolls with my sarcasm hammer.

I’ve been a feminist my whole life, but it wasn’t until college that I felt comfortable calling myself one. I credit my feminist parents, my grandmother, my extended family filled with tough independent women (one of whom gave me the nickname Lady T in the first place), my college roommates, my younger brothers, the essay “Yes, You Are”, and the Internet blogosphere and sites like Bitch Flicks for helping me become the feminist I am today.

Before I was comfortable calling myself a feminist, I was a fan of comedy and television. The formative works that most influenced by sense of humor are The Simpsons, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Sesame Street, and SCTV. Shows that I discovered later in life, but that are no less important to me, include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Community, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, South Park, Daria, Freaks and Geeks, and The IT Crowd. I also enjoy the occasional excellent television drama like The Wire and Deadwood, the occasional excellent teen soap like The Vampire Diaries, and the occasional shameful guilty pleasure like a show I call The Creek because I hate Dawson.

As you can see, I’m a big fan of satirical, absurdist, supremely silly comedy. My favorite comedy films growing up were The Producers and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I also love romantic comedies and anything based on Jane Austen – When Harry Met Sally…, Clueless, Pride and Prejudice (BBC), Punch-Drunk Love. My favorite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz, because I am a sentimental fool.

If I can describe my approach to feminism in one sentence, it would be this: “There’s always room for improvement.” Occasionally, I blog about media that really grates my cheese, but I’m more likely to criticize and analyze works of media that I really love and admire. I like the female characters on The Vampire Diaries, but I think the show’s portrayal of its black characters leaves a lot to be desired. I love the late, great George Carlin for many reasons, particularly his stand-up about abortion and grammar, but I don’t agree with his opinions on rape jokes. Most works of art that I love have some problematic aspects and I think it’s worthwhile and necessary to analyze our favorite things.

Or maybe I’m just nitpicky and should rename myself Lady Nitpick of Anal-Retention Land. Whatevs.

LADY T is a feminist blogger and snarky person. She has two degrees of English and English Education from Hofstra University. She taught middle school English for four years in Brooklyn, but gave up that career to pursue a more fulfilling life of blogging about Disney princesses, posting sketch comedy videos, and snarking about The Baby-sitters Club. She writes for educational websites and regularly volunteers to work with adults and children with disabilities. Her first novel, Fanged, is now available for purchase. Her dream career is a combination of Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling’s – head writer/creator of a sitcom while playing one of the minor side characters. In the meantime, she’ll continue to nitpick like hell at her favorite things.