By Zaquoya Rogers
Feminism is not hard to spot—its messages can be found in music, movies, and on TV. Recently, I appreciated the feminism in the new Netflix show Big Mouth, which is about a group of prepubescent teenagers finally going through puberty with the help of a “hormone monster.”
I had a “this show gets it” moment during the first scene, which showed a class watching a video on female anatomy. A female character named Jessi stood up and said, “How come in these videos, puberty for boys is the miracle of ejaculation, and for girls, we’re just a yarn ball of aching tubes?”
When another character named Nick commented that it was gross, Jessi responded, “Yeah, exactly, that why we need equal pay.”
After further watching the show, I realized there are many moments of feminism just like this one. In fact, Jessi’s mother was an obvious feminist and raised Jessi in that manner, as well. It fascinated me to see such a progressive type of cartoon that actually took the time to show and celebrate women empowerment, rather than making a mockery of it.
The only part of the show that made me raise an eyebrow was when Jessi’s mother resented her husband and turned out to be a lesbian. While this introduces positive diversity of sexuality, the only issue I had was that it sort of played into the stereotype that feminists hate men and are probably lesbian.
I wonder: If we present shows like this to our kids, will we be able to set a new foundation for their learning, erasing the brainwashing of misogyny and sexism at a young age?