I try not to judge, and it's not dissimilar to fanfic & slashfic, it's just generally sexual/romance based (it doesn't have to have sex, unlike slashfic which is usually like Kirk/Spock sort of stuff and can get pretty hardcore). And most of the time people write it down and share it with other shippers. FYI, I had to…

There was a girl on a mailing list I was on for writing who did this CONSTANTLY. Every single conversation ended up being about her sex-life/how awesome being poly is, no matter what topic was actually being discussed. She was also an obsessive "shipper" and would turn every pop culture geek out session into a thing…

Seconding this. Since when did the "arts" boil down to TV and movies and nothing else? Plus, many things in the arts have directly influenced technology and science, not to mention put history into context and given us such things as interdisciplinary studies. Ideas put forth in sci-fi novels have become reality. Not…

That is...wow. I can't even with that. I'm a writer and I can absolutely get behind the idea that words have power...but NOT because the n-word has a hard g sound, which seems to be why she thinks it's powerful? That's not why that word has power. It has power because it was literally used to dehumanize people, to…

Or both. I'm very pro-choice, so I'm very not okay with the parents in this scenario. Thankfully this girl has a lawyer so her rights are being defended and there's no way a judge is going to take that way. But I also have to consider the larger picture, which is that anti-choice people are always looking for ways to…

Are those actual things one of the Girls staff writers has tweeted? Because holy -shit-, that's awful. I only found out about some of the things Dunham has said recently that go well beyond the diversity issues in the show, and I'm now really concerned about the level of excusing from white feminists or just outright…

You're absolutely right. I think we do stray way too much into academic/liberal arts careers when discussing work "for" women and it leaves a huge swath of people out of the discussion. Not everyone has any interest in or aptitude for academic paths and I think it's an issue of classism that we don't discuss it more.…

You might be sick of it, but it accurately describes the system in place. It encompasses a multitude of issues and benefits that certain groups get, automatically, without necessarily having anything to do with the individuals beliefs. You can benefit from white privilege without being a racist, for instance. So I…

Those episodes of The Vicar of Dibley are my favorite things ever. Not only is Armitage incredibly good looking, he's also quite a bit younger than French. And it's not played as funny or strange that he falls in love with her, either.

Wow, what a gorgeous collection. And unlike a lot of other high fashion stuff, looks like it could suit a variety of body types. I love how she mixes rich hues with pale, the details, the flowyness. Lovely.

That I didn't know, in which case, dealbreaker for me. I haven't actually watched any of the second season and may have missed the other instances of racism because I'm living overseas for a year in a totally different time zone. I had no idea.

Wow, that's a leap. She's not my hero and I have absolutely no interest in making racist comments. I work very hard at knowing my own white privilege and making sure my own work does not whitewash or perpetuate racism. The only similarities between me and Dunham are that we're both white writers from NYC. Which can be…

No, it isn't. I just don't know what racist acts she's committed. I know about the writer on her show who made a racist comment, but all I know about Dunham is a piece where she discussed her belief that she can't write characters of color authentically. Which is concerning, and certainly a problem, but one a lot of…

Well, Roseanne hasn't been on in awhile and I'm not sure that many people relate to Chelsea Handler, who mostly seems to do gross out straight comedy. In terms of what she does that's "unique", getting naked and not being thin is actually a big deal. It shouldn't be, but when you read the comments on her body, it's of…

Actually, I have huge problems with the lack of diversity on the show. I apologize if my comment read as though I would excuse that about the show, because I don't. The conversation wasn't about that, it was about general "what do people relate to in this show" which is what I addressed. Now that you've brought up…

I think "pathological" is a bit extreme. She's a woman who is not Hollywood slim who is not ashamed of her body, who writes, stars in, and directs her own show, and is not afraid to let female characters be unpleasant and unlikable. I think there's a lot to admire there, regardless of whether I like the content of her…

Must I? That response makes zero sense in this context, nor does it have anything to do with what I actually said. Who are the "terrorists" in this scenario? Male rape victims? Please. I have zero tolerance for the troll-y sort of MRA commenter we often get over here, but there are legitimate issues to discuss about…

If that's all you got out of my comment, or "understood", then I feel sorry for you. There are legitimate issues the show confronts, even if you don't personally like it or find value in it. But no, the show doesn't "validate" me personally.

Well, yeah, I mean...that is largely the point. It's absolutely deliberate about that. Lots of other shows are about people who aren't very likable. Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, even The Office a lot of the time. Girls is definitely about flawed, privileged, self-involved 20 somethings. And for some…

To a degree it's about the fact that this a show made my a young woman who writes, acts, and often directs the episodes, about a group of girls who are often not very likable because they're human. They are deeply flawed characters, but much more real than what you generally get, and it's often painfully awkward and…