I thought the skit seemed weak rather than sharp-witted. Plus the racial aspect was not handled as well as it could have been.

No outrage, just an observation about my view of the skit. Go build your straw man somewhere else.

The notion that there is such a thing as so-white-can't-be-black actually upholds some rather racist ideas. I have known people with pale skin and blond hair who had a black parent. For me, the skit didn't work, for a lot of reasons, including what seemed to be some icky racial assumptions. If it worked for you, cool.

I read it as both. And the complexion part is inaccurate. It's not unusual for the offspring of mixed marriages to range in skin tone from dark to light. Look at Poehler's Parks and Rec co-star Rashida Jones for example.

I love Fey and Poehler but this was the second time tonight that they did a joke about interracial sex as if ooh naughty taboo (1st time was at the end of the opening monologue). That's the kind of humor that was considered risque back when Bob Hope was hosting the Oscars. Kind of expected better from them.

It was a rather pointless, almost Love Boat-esque cameo. As AHS musical interludes go, I preferred last season's dance number with Jessica Lange doing "The Name Game."

It's official. Hell has frozen over if Glenn Beck is admitting Melissa Harris-Perry is better than him.

Great article. As someone who has lived below the poverty line, I wish there was more financial advice geared to the realities of people who are truly struggling. Most financial advice websites seem to assume that readers are at least middle class and just trying to stretch their money, increase savings, etc.

"And choose sexual positions which permit her to keep reading The Good Book while you're intercoursing her."

Exactly. It's not that I dislike Gaiman's work or Whedon's, or Martin's for that matter. But it is tiresome to read (again and again and again . . .) what great woman characters they create, as if they deserve a cookie just for trying. Meanwhile, many women writers of sci-fi/fantasy/horror create complex, interesting…

People go through different stages—whether they are teens, 20s, 40s or 70s. Give her time and space to figure out whatever it is she is dealing with at this point. Avoiding any major blowouts right now helps ensure that when she gets past whatever it is, you can be friends again.

I can empathize since one of my sisters has also been known to indulge in family gathering dramatics. For me, it comes down to a sort of emotional economics: the cost of walking on eggshells is less than the toll of dealing with tantrums. Plus I budget my time with her very closely so that I never reach maximum…

Personally I see more stereotypes than archetypes. But then I've always found the whole maiden-mother-crone deal to be one of the least appealing aspects of traditional paganism since it slots women in fairly rigid gender-normative roles.

Totally agree. Books with woman as villains can be fascinating. But Gone Girl just fell back on the typical "conniving bitch" stereotypes already omnipresent in the culture. So no big surprise that it became a bestseller and a Hollywood movie.

GTFO. No need to suffer through any drama right now. If she's that angry, there's zero chance of patching things up until after she cools down, whenever that time arrives. For future reference, always best to avoid offering even the most innocuous criticism/advice when someone is that volatile. Keep things bland,…

But Buffy is trapped by patriarchy more often than she upends it, particularly as far as her love/sex life. I enjoy the show and think it does some feminist things, at least in some episodes. It's just that I think that awarding the show, and by extension Joss Whedon, all this acclaim for being the peak of feminism, …

Willow was always my favorite character. The writers of the show seemed to give her more room for unconventionality than Buffy. But even her storylines often fell into some unfortunate tropes—like the whole lesbian love ending in death deal.

Gaiman undoubtedly has storytelling chops. And he is not as lazy with creating his woman characters as a lot of his peers in the comics and fantasy genres. However his female characters mostly seem to fall into some established "type"—like the goddesses in Ocean at the End of the Lane. All of whom seem entirely…

I agree with you that the visuals make a big difference. But I still think that Buffy only seems like a strong character against the backdrop of an overall paucity of self-determining female characters. This writer does a good job of analyzing the problems with the show:

Not really on the "Neil Gaiman writes strong women characters" train. I think he, like Joss Whedon, benefits from how poorly most men write women. Their female characters appear three-dimensional by comparison with the standard issue cardboard girlfriend/wife/daughter roles or the mega-sexy-hot heroines that a lot of…