PBS | unfridged

Despite all the sad sexist nerd boy drama, the Hugo awards happened and author N.K. Jemisin very deservingly took top honours. [We Hunted the Mammoth]
Even the normally reserved Guardian is pretty gleeful about the total failure of the sad/rabid puppies nonsense.
There has been so much good stuff from Feminist Frequency lately:
- The review of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided shows the pitfalls of pulling from real-world oppression for your science fictional video game.
- I’m super excited for the new series Ordinary Women, so here’s a video about Murasaki Shikibu, the author of the first novel, to whet your appetite.
- Back to the Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series, go learn about the lack of body diversity in video games and the stereotype of the sinister seductress.
Maybe you saw that bullshit “how to talk to women wearing headphones” guide a little while ago (here’s a takedown that the Guardian did, to refresh your memory), but have you ever wondered how to talk to a woman who playing a PS4 inside her locked house? [Point & Clickbait]
Teeny little comic about Holtzmann hitting on ghosts. [AV Club]
The PBS gets Rebecca Sugar to expand on her comments at Comic Con on the importance of queer media for kids.
“This is what happens when you watch Killer Mermaid right after Slavoj Žižek’s A Pervert’s Guide to Ideology.” I swear I didn’t write this one. [The Mary Sue]
Funny/interesting people Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs have a Buffy-themed podcast called Buffering the Vampire Slayer. [Autostraddle]
“How one Twitch channel is fighting abuse in the gaming community.” [Vice]
The zombie genre gets reinvigorated in The Girl with All the Gifts. [Little White Lies]
NASA released a video called “A trek towards diversity,” in which they interview Nichelle Nichols and George Takei.
Mara Wilson, a child actress known for her roles in, among others, Mathilda, came out recently and was interviewed by Autostraddle.
Carmilla season three part one is up!

Top image: “Lady Murasaki,” by Celine Loup.

BAMFiles: Allison from Kratts’ Creatures

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Right when I was growing up, I, along with all the other animal-obsessed kids in North America, got a gem of a show in PBS’s Kratts’ Creatures. On the air in 1996, and rerun to death until 2000, the show followed the Kratt brothers as they explored the world and the critters who lived in it. It was a goldmine of information for kids interested in biology, conservation, and animal behaviour, but my favourite part? Sidekick Allison Baldwin.

You’d think I’d have seen myself most in the adventuring brothers, but Allison, played by actress Shannon Duff, was the main event. She was the one who, researching facts in her treehouse command centre, provided context and warning. In fact, I can trace my love of the “computer whiz who works behind the scenes” character type directly back to Allison. She was great, and got the brothers out of more scrapes than I can count.

Quick, smart, and never sidelined despite her less physical role, Allison could do everything from dispensing wisdom to rocking the hell out of her overalls. If she invited me to hang out in her treehouse, I’d be there in a heartbeat. I’d bring snacks, and we’d spend the evening watching footage of baby turtles. Get to the sea before you get eaten, baby turtles!

Anyway, Allison was the best, and I’ll leave you with an episode all about the Tasmanian devil. Cheers:

unfridged

feminism and fantasy, science fiction and sexism

Tag Archives: PBS

Weekend Reading List: And we’re back!

BAMFiles: Allison from Kratts’ Creatures