
The Feminist As Fuck panel was a great way to start off the Vulture Festival. I heard powerful, emotional, moving works from all the panelists and when someone in the audience, a college professor, asked these women to speak to consent and to give some advice on being a feminist, here’s what they had to say:

Amber Tamblyn: “It’s a tough world out here right now. I think one of the most important things is not only a space in which women are able to tell their stories and be believed, regardless of whether that person being accused is somebody that we like a lot or that’s a friend of ours, and for fellow allies and other women to also believe those women and know their sense of support.
I think that’s one of the biggest struggles that I see right now, especially in the entertainment business because there’s been several men lately who are people that we loved — past tense. Now it’s really complicated and to see a lot of people coming forward and saying, ‘Well, wait a minute. Let’s make a tiny exception.’ No. The exceptions are over. That’s it and the consequences go from across the board. They go from everything from trying to stick your tongue down someone’s throat all the way up to rape and worse.
The consequence, in my opinion, for all of those things is that you lose your career and you go away for a while. I don’t think that there’s sliding scale. It’s just unanimously you have to go. You’re done. And that’s as far as the business is concerned and it’s really disorienting for a lot of people in our business right now.
It’s especially upsetting and disorienting for cis, white men because they’re very confused because they’ve never in their entire lives had consequences that were not served by themselves to each other. Now it’s not them doing it and deciding the fates of their lives. It’s women. And, I think, that’s a very scary feeling for them.
To answer your question, I think being allies to one another and trying to figure out how to do that and not serve the purposes of patriarchal narratives, which means making those exceptions and going, ‘Wait a minute. This was my friend. Wait a minute. I’ve worked with person. He’s really nice. There’s no way he could’ve done that. Wait a minute.’ All these ‘wait a minutes,’ they have to go. They really have to go.
So, the important message for me is to always say believe first, question later and that we have to stand as a unified front and that you can’t keep looking at just your own future as a woman. You have to be looking left and right and who’s next to you and who’s behind you and who’s not being supported. Who can you bring with you. Because an army is just not strong enough if we’re all not holding each other’s stories as strongly as we can.â€

Attica Locke: “I would add to that, when you say it takes a village, it takes a village to do resistance and I think I would tell young women to engage in deep self-care. There will be some days you don’t have it in you to stand up and fight. In the moment you don’t have to speak up.
With those of us who’ve experienced assault and trauma, it’s not every day that you want to say, ‘Me too.’ That shit is hard. So, we have to have other women’s backs so that when you do have the energy to speak up loud, somebody else can sit down for a minute.
I just want young women not to wear themselves out because it’s a long ride. It’s a long ride. I just want them to take dear, great care of themselves. And to not feel shame if you speak or don’t speak. Everything is ok.”

Randa Jarrar: “Also, just one last thing: Fuck straight white men’s work. We’ve all read it, we’ve all looked at it. It’s over. Just one thing you can do is just read women’s work and read women of color.
If you’re a young woman, that’s what you should be doing. Let go of all that canon and create a canon of your own, a loud ass canon and just move forward and essentially remember that there has always been years where we’ve been othered and our voices have been silenced, our voices have been muted. Now it’s time for our voices to be loud.
The future and the past and everything has been female, it’s been femme, it’s been women, it’s been us and so I think the most important thing now is to elevate the words of women of color and listen to them and to what they have to say, because they knew. They know. Do the work if you’re on a college campus. Read. Read women. Read women of color.
The guidance is there. The beauty is there and girl gangs also. Girl gangs are good. Form one.”
Bonus:

I didn’t record it — and I’m glad I didn’t because you need to hear it live — Roxane Gay’s giddy and hilarious ode to the movie Magic Mike XXL. She’s a serious Channing Tatum fan and you will have a new appreciation for this film after you’ve heard her talk about it. Having never seen it myself, I will be watching it the first opportunity I get.
You can buy the works of Roxane Gay, Amber Tamblyn, Randa Jarrar, Rachel McKibbens and Attica Locke at your local bookstore or online.
Related posts
Classics
Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders Talk the From Season 2 finale
[Warning: Spoilers for the season finale.] How’s everyone doing after that finale? While we wait and wonder and hope for a third season announcement, soon, here’s what Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders had to say about their parts of the finale, and where they hope they get to go next….
Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders Talk From Season 2 + A Season Finale Preview
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] It all comes down this, #FROMily. As Sunday’s episode wraps up Season 2, we begin with the aftermath of the terrifying onset of seemingly simultaneous attacks on Julie, Marielle, and Randall, which accelerate the “We gotta get out of this place” of it all. Sara comes…
Alison Sweeney Talks About What’s Next for Hannah and Mike After Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery
[Warning: Spoilers for Carrot Cake Murder.] Everybody OK after that Hannah Swensen Mystery twist? Thankfully, our favorite crime-solving couple is still on speaking term, even if they’re on a break (hopefully not that kind of break). Most importantly, we already know this isn’t the last film in the series. No…
Counting Down to From Season 2
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] We’re just shy of two weeks away from Season 2 of last spring’s obsession, From, which premieres at 9 pm/8c, Sunday, April 23rd, on MGM+ (formerly EPIX). If you never picked it up last year, now’s your chance, and you can do it for free, catching…
Thank Me Later: Will Trent
[Warning: spoilers ahead.] I’m on record as loving and losing shows over at ABC so I’m usually very reticent to pick something up on the network until it’s been renewed, and I seriously hope I’m not jinxing it, but I took a chance on the deeply odd and very sweet…
Dennis Heaton Talks The Imperfects
Longtime readers at TV Goodness will know that Motive is one of my ride-or-die series, and as such, I am fiercely loyal to its creator, Dennis Heaton. He followed up that fantastic reverse procedural with Netflix’s The Order and is back on our streaming screens with The Imperfects, which dropped…
Kelly McCormack Talks Favorite Moments in A League of Their Own
[Warning: Mild spoilers for season 1.] Now that you’ve had a chance to watch A League of Their Own, here’s the rest of my chat with Kelly McCormack about her favorite moments of the season. Seeing the iconic Peaches uniforms for the first time wasn’t just a goosebump moment for…
John Griffin and Harold Perrineau Talk From Season 1 Finale
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] How are we doing, #FROMily? In case you missed it this morning, the very good news is that that cliffhanger will be followed by a second season, which was gifted this morning ahead of the linear broadcast of the finale. I always legitimately appreciate when we…
Elizabeth Saunders Talks From
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] One of the things that makes EPIX’s From such a fun ride is the abundance of Canadian cast members. Elizabeth Saunders, who plays Donna, is a favorite from her turn on the third season of Mary Kills People [streaming on Global TV in Canada and Roku…
Corteon Moore Talks From “Broken Windows, Open Doors”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight’s episode of From had us all in our feels as we learned through flashbacks about the Sophie’s Choice Boyd had to make to save his son, and back in the present as Boyd said his piece with Ellis before heading into the woods with…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…
3 Moments of Goodness from Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Johnny and Dora”
The most satisfying part of this season’s finale has to the Jake and Amy kiss. Well, they kiss three times but the last one is the best one — and it means something. The Charles and Rosa dynamic was also great. I love how she’s convinced he doesn’t know anything…