Danii and Joy grew up loving the Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin. Now, as queer, literature-loving twenty-somethings and once college roommates they're diving into the books, tv shows, and films to see why they meant so much to them and so many
Back again with special guest Charlotte Abotsi for part two of our discussion of Netflix's portrayal of the super smart Mary Anne Spier who should be acknowledged more for how good she is at the premise of the show, baby-sitting. We get into a lot of astrology, the power of trans youth, white women who call themselves witches, girls of color supporting each other, and how this show really is...dare we say...progressive! Find more of Charlotte at charlotteabotsi.com. [This is part two of a two-part episode.]
We are joined by very special guest, poet, writer, and long time baby-sitter Charlotte Abotsi, to discuss Netflix's portrayal of Mary Anne! We talk lost opportunities around race, our love of Bailey, Mary Anne being the smartest and the coolest, Dawn's incredible affirmations, and dive deep into what it means to cast Mary Anne as a Black girl. [This is part one of a two-part episode.]
This one is a doozy! Joy and Danii chat controlling parents, how gay it is to be a girl who is friends with a girl, and virgos before detouring completely into celebrating the Twilight Renaissance and crying about the price of healthcare. Content warning: we swear a lot in this one
Joy and Danii cover the 3rd episode of the BSC Netflix show and discuss the modernized portrayal of diabetes and cyberbullying, the disappointing distance between Stacey and our fave Dr. Johanssen, Mary-Anne's incredible one-liners, and the importance of women supporting women...unless they want to put you out of business.
There's a lot to love about The Truth About Stacey - girls advocating for bodily autonomy! Disability justice! Feminism! Trusted adult support figures besides parents! In this episode, we draw parallels between disability and LGBT narratives and discuss why Stacey's story resonates with us so much. Also, we love tween babysitting turf wars and lament capitalism.
Joy and Danii cover the 2nd episode of the BSC Netflix show and get excited about wives, Claudia's outfits, tender baby boy Trevor, and how this episode fixes all the things we didn't like about the book. We also ask for more parents of color and are perpetually impressed by the young actors in this show.
We have new music, new headphones, and MANY thoughts and feelings about the damaging messages society teaches girls, compulsory heterosexuality, the subtle indicators of class, policing, and gender norms in quiet Stoneybrook, and the best parts of Claudia's story that we want to see more of. Content warning: we swear in this one, due to the heterosexuality
In our 2nd episode, Danii and Joy react to the first episode of the BSC Netflix show and discuss its promising female empowerment and unfortunately not-so-promising handling of race and colorblind storytelling. Also, Janine's a gaymer girl, Mr. Kishi has remarkable cheekbones, and it's already time to start talking about $$$ in Stoneybrook.
In our first episode covering Book #1, Joy and Danii get too deep, too fast about the problematic portrayal of what it means for a girl to "grow up," where Claudia fits into Asian stereotypes, and Stacey's "coming out" scene. Also check out our "Claudia's Closet" feature for fashion inspo and our "How Gay Is This Book?" rating! (Spoilers: it's really gay)
In our HYPE episode, we introduce the podcast and talk about our fondest childhood memories of Stoneybrook, our queer Baby-Sitting dreams, and why we wanted to act on our very own Great Idea!
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