It’s been some time since I penned a FAR post. Much has changed and much has stayed the same. I have since moved to a different part of the United States and have started a new teaching position at a… Read More ›
Popular Culture
The Return of the Exile by Mary Gelfand
A few years ago I encountered a Norwegian folktale titled “Prince Lindworm.” This tale was completely new to me and aspects of it have lingered as I contemplate the future of my country. In “Prince Lindworm,” a childless Queen… Read More ›
Spill that Tea: Let’s talk about Harry and Meghan by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with all things Royal. On March 7th, the world sat enraptured as two members of the British Royal Family had a tell-all interview about their experiences over the last… Read More ›
Star Trek: Discovery Season Two: On Characters, Action, and Faith by Ivy Helman.
Season two of Star Trek: Discovery incorporates religion differently than season one. While there are religious overarching themes running throughout, like how actions to shape the future and faith not as convictions but as empowerment, a more fitting and interesting… Read More ›
The Via Feminina: Revisioning the Heroine’s Journey by Mary Sharratt
Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, the Hero’s Journey, is outlined in his 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Drawn from his studies of comparative mythology and Jungian psychology, the Hero’s Journey has become a foundation myth of modern culture. The… Read More ›
Netflix Pandemic Show binge-a-thon by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
Given the progressively dismal state of affairs in the nation currently, I have relied heavily on binge watching shows on Netflix. One of my coping strategies I started using in graduate school was having tv shows or movies playing in… Read More ›
A Case for Context by Sara Frykenberg
I have a close family member who is staunchly Republican and frequently posts videos from the conservative platform PragerU or “Prager University.” Video topics include: why the Democratic Party is the “real” racist party (as though either party is innocent… Read More ›
TikTok, the Pandemic platform for community, resistance, and activism by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
It’s July which means we have collectively endured 7 months of uncertainty, turmoil, darkness, and light. America, we are still battling all aspects of the virus: rising numbers of infected, those that deny its existence, those refusing to wear masks… Read More ›
When Life Hands You Lemons… by John Erickson
“When life hands you lemons, sometimes you have to make applesauce.”
Reviewing Current Holocaust Popular Culture Materials By: Anjeanette LeBoeuf
I contemplated doing a post on the current rising issues of the Coronavirus but as so much of life has been stopped, altered, and/or rearranged, that I figured I would embody the proverbial statement of “Just Keep Calm and Carry… Read More ›
Let’s Talk about Frozen 2 by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
While facetiming my brother, I heard my two-year-old niece shout at the top of her lungs that she was “Queen Elsa” and was coming to save me. I had started writing about the Frozen films, when Sara posted on them…. Read More ›
Beth March and the Courage of the Gentle Giver by Cathleen Flynn
As someone who spent my prepubescent years watching director Gillian Armstrong’s “Little Women”, I was eager to see Greta Gerwig’s newly released version. Previously unexplored contours of each character, and of my changed perceptions, were made visible through this iteration…. Read More ›
Staying Un-Frozen by Sara Frykenberg
It is February 14th, Valentines Day. So, today I want to explore my daughter’s love affair with Frozen; a story that I did not like, but that I learned to love by watching it through her eyes. A story which… Read More ›
I Hope “This Changes Everything” by Elise M. Edwards
Last week, I attended a film festival in Waco, Texas that showed the 2019 documentary This Changes Everything. Spending Friday evening at a film festival seemed like an enjoyable and appropriate way to kick off a weekend that would culminate… Read More ›
The Boots on the Ground People of Queer Eye: Part 3 by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
This month is the trilogy to my Queer Eye series. The last two posts talked about the significance of the current reboot Netflix series and the Fab Five. This post will highlight some of the people who were made over…. Read More ›
Metamorphosis and a Press Conference: A Kafkaesque and Shakespearean Fantasy about an Unreal Individual by Barbara Ardinger
Donald wakes up too early. Feeling confused and disoriented, he looks around the room. His bed has disappeared! He seems to be lying on the floor. Why? he asks himself, how’d I fall off my king-size bed? The floor (uncarpeted??)… Read More ›
The Important Work of Netflix’s Queer Eye: Part 2 by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
Last month’s FAR post detailed the blockbuster hit show Queer Eye. The Fab Five – Karamo, Tan, Bobby, Jonathan, and Antoni, not only inspire the people they are making over, but are using their growing fan base to become true… Read More ›
The Explosion of the TV Show Queer Eye: Part One By Anjeanette LeBoeuf
In 2019, when mentioning Queer Eye, Queer Theory isn’t on the table, but the Global Netflix hit show is. Responses will range from how each episode gets the viewer to cry, the love of avocado, the French Tuck, and how… Read More ›
We Won’t Go Back by John Erickson
Bottom line: abortion is healthcare. Nearly a fourth of women in America will have an abortion by age 45. Every day, people across the United States make deeply personal decisions about their pregnancies. Those decisions deserve respect.
Game of Thrones is Over, Now What? By Anjeanette LeBoeuf
This post contains spoilers on the Game of Thrones series For many, this past week saw the MASSIVE HBO hit, Game of Thrones, air its last episode. Thousands were left unsatisfied with the ending and even the entire last… Read More ›
Avengers Vs. Sailor Moon Vs. … maybe… all that GOT *stuff
Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones, so read at your own risk!
“Closer to Fine:” Trans Femme Reflections on the Sacred Found in Lesbian Music Culture by Nathan Bakken
“I’m trying to tell you something about my life.” I joke with my friends that if the 1990’s weren’t so transphobic, I would have thrived as a trans lesbian. Citing my knowledge of the L Word, Pacific Northwest flannel sensibilities,… Read More ›
Re-reading Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN by Joyce Zonana
And so is born the “monster” most people associate with the name Frankenstein–a lone and lonely terrorist who lashes out against a world that has no place for him. One by one, he strangles all the people his “maker” holds dear: his brother William, his best friend Clerval, and his cousin/bride Elizabeth. Yet the novel invites us to have compassion for the creature, even while it condemns the society that makes him as he is. Victor, raised by a devoted mother and tenderly loved by a doting cousin, should have known better. As should we.
Emotional Labor, Elastigirl, & Me
Last year, I turned 40 and started grad school while working part time at the public library as the Children’s Services Manager, living in a cohousing community, volunteering with my Sisterhood, and raising three teenagers. I’m between semesters at the… Read More ›
Beyond Human Rights by Esther Nelson
For way too long, the only meaning I found in my life happened when peering through one specific, religious prism. Then I discovered what’s called the academic study of religion. Observing the many ways people find meaning through their own… Read More ›
Is there Space for Beyoncé in Worship? by Katey Zeh
Last month nearly 1,000 people gathered at Grace Cathedral, an Episcopal congregation in San Francisco, to participate in a worship service notably referred to as the Beyoncé Mass. Several of Beyoncé’s songs, including “Survivor,” “Flaws And All,” and “Freedom,” were… Read More ›
Meet the Bible Bitches: Interview with Rev. Laura Barclay and Sara Hof
What do you get when you have two ladies, one a Baptist Minister living in KY and one an agnostic living in LA, making jokes and talking about the Bible? Don’t know? You get the new and exciting podcast Bible Bitches!
Vagina Happy Fact by John Erickson
A month ago, the Hollywood Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the City of West Hollywood presented the Vagina Monologues. The event was a complete success and we raised over $5,000 for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles! While… Read More ›
Friend Zoned by God by Christy Croft
Sometimes life hurts. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we dive deeply into darkness. Sometimes we fall. Sometimes our lives line up so perfectly we can’t help but sense the hand of the divine helping us clear our paths and point… Read More ›
Princess Peach from The Goddess Project: Made in Her Image by Colette Numajiri
Toy stores and department store aisles are decked with pink and purple princess paraphernalia. Disney has provided an array of princesses for little girls to choose their birthday party or bedroom decor from. But as we all know, there’s a… Read More ›
