[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A trope is a common pattern in a story or a recognizable attribute in
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a character that conveys information to the audience.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A trope becomes a cliche when it's overused.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sadly, some of these tropes often perpetuate offensive stereotypes.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every now and then, in Hollywoodland a character that's identified as a feminist will magically make its way
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the production process and appear on our television screens
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unfortunately this is almost never good.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What the Hollywood machine churns out is a distorted and warped version of feminism
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which bares little resemblance to actual feminist movements.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a desperate quest to distance themselves, their plots and their characters
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from anything that could in anyway be mistakenly mistaken for feminism
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hollywood writers rely on one of the most deceptive and disgusting tropes ever to be forged in the fires of mount doom.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That trope is called The Straw Feminist.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In television and movies The Straw Feminist works by deliberately creating an exaggerated caricature of a feminist
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which writers then fill with a bunch of oversimplifications, misrepresentations and stereotypes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to try to make it easy to discredit or delegitimize feminism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The goal is to make feminists and our movements look completely ridiculous, over the top and unnecessary.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In terms of media representation, one of the most disturbing example of the Straw Feminist can be found in the 3rd season of Veronica Mars.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sadly, the Veronica Mars writing team turned the last season into a train wreak
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,partially by introducing a group of Straw Feminists as villains in the series.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Characters like these serve to undermine and discredit feminist movements
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they also serves to separate female leads which are smart, strong and witty,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in this case, Veronica, from any association with feminism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Straw Feminist character is part of a fictional post-feminist world that only exists in Hollywood.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The trope is a tool that's used to promote the fallacy that everyone is already equal.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What’s exceptionally frustrating is that these characters often bring up legitimate feminist concerns
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about women’s rights and women’s equality but those concerns are quickly undermined
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the writers making the characters seem over the top, crazy, and extremist.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example the Straw Feminist appears in Married with Children as Marcy D’Arcy, the irritating and pompous neighbour.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this case, the Straw Feminist is coded as the castrating wife who emasculates and dominates her docile, stupid husband.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see the trope repeated in Rugrats with Phil and Lil's mother
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who Wikipedia describes as “Quite the jock and women's-libber”
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can also recognize her as a straw feminist because of the giant woman's symbol on her sweater.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Much like Marcy she's framed as the castrating wife who barks orders to her submissive husband.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2001's Legally Blonde the writers threw in a Straw Feminist for cheap laughs
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who believes that the word “semester” is an evil conspiracy against women.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Take the word semester 'k, it is the perfect example of this school's discriminatory preference
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of semen to ovaries, that's why I'm petitioning to have next term be referred to as
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the winter ov-es-ter."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another problematic example comes from the Powerpuff Girls episode, “Equal Fights” in the third season.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Girls encounter a female villain named Femme Fatale
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who we can immediately see is a straw feminist because she has the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oh-so-terrifying woman’s symbol on her mask, her clothes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even as her weapon.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The episode begins with the traditional pan around Townsville showing us that gender inequality is not a problem.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"A city where everyone gets their fair turn"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even boys and girls on the playground get along.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Your turn Jenny... think fast"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Oops"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Very funny Joey.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"You're gonna get it"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this harmonious balance is deviously disrupted by Femme Fatale and her conniving, deceptive women's rights rhetoric.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Curiously though, Femme Fatale brings up some pretty valid points
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the lack of female faces on American money,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the lack of female superheroes in pop culture.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Surely, you've noticed, female superheroes aren't nearly as revered as male superheroes."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sure they are!"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"There's Supergirl, Batgirl"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"They're so lame"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Merely extensions of their male counterparts."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Girls are influenced by Femme Fatale’s malicious rhetoric to see benign, routine every day things
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a conspiracy against women and against them personally.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The writers of the Powerpuff Girls have carefully created a fantasy world without gender oppression,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they can have the Girls start seeing oppression where none exists.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We saw what you did Joey Finklemeyer"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Whhaaa'd I do?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Shut up!"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Don't play dumb with us!"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I've finally caught up on all the housework and all that's left is your room."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"If you could take care of that please."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"uh, I'll just do it later"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Why don't you get some big strong man to save your precious city?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Or better yet why don't you stop making women do your dirty work and do it yourself!"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The problem is, all of these things that the Powerpuff Girls are complaining about are actually happening!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Girls are getting bullied on school yards
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and women are overwhelmingly responsible for household duties.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Women are being institutionally oppressed all the time in nearly every facet of our lives.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once again this trope is used to separate the Powerpuff Girls from any notion
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they could in anyway possibly be feminist characters.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because you know you awesome, funny, world saving, independent young women
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you know, not feminist...
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The straw feminist trope is taken to a whole new level in adult animation shows\N\Nsuch as South Park or Family Guy.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the episode "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" the Family Guy writers took a stab at feminist attorney Gloria Allred.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Allred is known for taking on high-profile cases defending women who have been assaulted or harassed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this attack, the Family Guy writers created a character coincidentally named Gloria Ironbox
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who brainwashes Peter into thinking he is a woman, after he is accused of sexual assault.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The emasculation and feminization of Peter and his sudden transformation into a feminist is played for laughs.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I can't respect men, men are the reason our world is in such lousy shape."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"If men were as caring as women we wouldn't have crime or violence."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because you know, nothing is worse in a patriarchal society then being a woman,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,except maybe being a feminist...
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In these fictional narratives institutional oppression and wide scale sexism just doesn’t exist.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s a carefully constructed world where feminism is no longer needed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even the comic book world delves into this trope, with Y the Last Man.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When all the men on earth die except for one,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is a extremist homicidal group called the Daughters of the Amazons.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The violent, vigilante group is founded on the disdain and hatred of men
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and anyone who mourns the death of men
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even though there aren’t anymore men.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's get back to Veronica Mars,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is a 9 episode story arc in the 3rd season about a series of rapes that occur on the University Campus.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A group of straw feminists on campus hold demonstrations,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,volunteer with the Ride Home Safe campus program to escort young women home,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and demand that the university institute an official sexual code of conduct.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of these are logical, rational and important steps to creating safer college campuses.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, the writer quickly dismisses these characters as irrational, stubborn, pigheaded man-haters,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it serves to fulfill the tired old stereotypes about angry and militant women of colour.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,\N"Pig"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Rapist"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The writers of Veronica Mars takes the Straw Feminist to an obscene level
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by actually having them "fake a rape" in order to blame the fraternity.  \N\NWomen lying about sexual assault is a grossly overused myth.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Women generally don’t put themselves through the social shame of admitting assault for petty personal revenge.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In just a handful of episodes the creators of Veronica Mars undermine the work that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thousands of students are doing globally on there campuses to end violence against women.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While we see the Straw Feminist over and over again in television and movies,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s also unfortunately deployed on a regular basis by American talk shows and news pundits.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mainstream religious and conservative news media often attack women with
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,deliberate misrepresentations and extreme exaggerations of what feminism is.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This false impression has been infused into the mainstream by popular talk show hosts
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as Michael Savage, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You may have heard the slur "Feminazi" popularized by Rush Limbaugh.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A term used to discredit and demonize any woman fighting for social equality.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The feminists, the feminazis have been working for years to this end,"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"advance women by diminishing men."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ya...

The Straw Feminist is set up to perpetuate and advance the myth that feminism is no longer needed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we have arrived at gender equality
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and anyone who disagrees is quickly demeaned and portrayed as an extremist.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This trope represents a backlash against feminism and groups supporting women’s rights.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As we make more gains towards equality, the backlash gets stronger.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s an old yet effective tactic but clearly it's working because I often hear young women saying,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I believe in the equal rights of women but I'm not a feminist."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This sentiment is a direct result of the straw feminist trope.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because women want to distance themselves from the extreme and false representations they are seeing on tv, movies and talk shows.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We need to proudly claim the title and fight back against these distorted and demeaning representations in the media and in real life,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if y’all really do believe in the equality of women then we need to continue this long legacy of feminism and fight for it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Hollywood, get over your fear of strong, smart and talented women
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and stop contributing to the backlash by writing absurd and ridiculous Straw Feminist characters.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I will leave you with Polly Bergen saying something pretty awesome
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the otherwise unremarkable show Commander in Chief.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Look just because it matters to mom doesn't mean it matters to me."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I mean, I'm no feminist."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"So you don't believe that women should have rights equal to those of men"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"w..well of course I do... it's just-"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Might I suggest my dear"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"that you look up the definition of feminist."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Feminists don't have a sense of humor."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Feminists just want to be alone. Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo"