ABC Fail.

Today I let/made a friend edit my online dating profile for me.  When she added a line about how I like to blog, it occurred to me that I haven't actually blogged in a while.  I haven't had much to write about honestly, but it hit me when I was watching ABC and a preview of the soon to be airing craptastic sitcom, Work It.

I can't find the words to explain it, but you can watch the preview here.  This trailer makes me so angry that I'm considering quitting watching my beloved Desperate Housewives because of how irresponsible ABC is for airing a sitcom that promotes the ideas that 1. women are more likely to find gainful employment than men and 2. the idea of watching a male born person wear heels and traditionally feminine clothing is just so absurd that it's hilarious. 

I found a (very brief) article about the show on a pharmaceutical site that points to unemployment as an ongoing issue and notes that "women now outnumbering men in the workforce" causes these two characters to dress as women to beat the mancession.   Yes, that's right.  MANcession.   Because it's apparently more difficult for men to get jobs in a tough economy than women.  Nevermind that women still get paid 77 cents for every dollar that men get paid, or that women outnumber men in the US population by over 5 million.  No no, that couldn't possibly explain more women in the workforce. 

Actually, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data women are slightly less affected by unemployment than men - probably owing to the fact that the economy is shit and women are cheaper to hire.  33% cheaper.

Rest assured, women who are pissed off that the gender wage gap is still huge even in the year 2011 - at least you have a job - even though when the 'mancession' ends men will more than likely resume making more than you after they endured the horrible pain of wearing traditional feminine clothing that you are expected to wear by society. 

I once got into an argument with a former employer, who I won't name, that mentioned working for a cross-dressing boss who made her uncomfortable (solely because of his cross dressing - he didn't do it every day and she was perfectly fine with him on days that he dressed 'like a man.').  After explaining to me that it was unprofessional of him to dress 'like a woman' at work, I believe my exact response was That sounds like your professionalism problem not his, if you can't respect your boss regardless of what he wears.  She proceeded to continue arguing with me, and obviously my response calling her out on discriminating based on gender didn't change her mind.  The point is - wear what you want to wear to work, if you're lucky enough to have a job.  Respect your colleagues regardless of gender presentation.  But don't make a mockery of male born people who choose to express gender in a more feminine way, or imply that women somehow have it easier in the workforce when they still make considerably less than men.

Seriously ABC?  There are real people who are bullied in schools, turned down for jobs, harassed, beaten, or killed by strangers for the way they present their gender.  For something as trivial as whether one chooses to wear make up or not, wears pink or blue, how one styles their hair.... our society literally beats and kills people over these choices if they are seen as the 'wrong' ones. It's not a fucking joke to watch men fake a gender expression and act like it's completely absurd and hilarious for men to fall outside a typical gender presentation.  I really hope to see this show canceled before it airs.