Is there any GC-friendly content on Netflix?

submitted by worried19 from self.GenderCritical

I've noticed Netflix seems to be extremely into trans content, even in children's programming like the Babysitters Club series.

Is there any GC-friendly or radical feminist content on Netflix? I found one series with a gender nonconforming woman, but when I looked up the actress on Google, I saw that she has "she/them" as her pronouns and was making posts attacking J.K. Rowling.

I'm interested in representation of GNC women in particular. It feels like women like me are almost completely invisible in the media.

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[–]FuriousPenguin 29 insightful - 1 fun29 insightful - 0 fun30 insightful - 1 fun -  (20 children)

They're was this show, Good Girls where one of the three women had a daughter. She was such a tomboy and GNC that I got excited thinking hey that's how I was! Then the new season came out and she said she was a boy. Stopped watching that instant. Literally paused and left the show. There's nothing. Now I'm no longer subbed to Netflix. I'm not paying corps who are interested in erasing us.

[–]Debaser 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

How disappointing. It's a shame that the only possible storyline for GNC character is that they eventually come out as trans. It sends out the message that this is the path to being trans, not that they can simply be who they are without the need to adhere to the archaic definition of what a woman or man is.

The Max/Jenny storyline in The L Word was a complete cringefest.

[–]FuriousPenguin 5 insightful - 4 fun5 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

My favourite colour is army green. I must secretly want to be a male commando. /S

It's so regressive.

[–]worried19[S] 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

Thanks for the warning. That's exactly the type of thing I don't want to be surprised by. Getting excited about GNC representation only to find out the show creators want to obliterate us.

[–]Debaser 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

It's funny that these shows think they are being so progressive but its a 75 year step backwards to reaffirm the gender roles bullshit.

[–]worried19[S] 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Even worse, I looked up the young actress playing this character on Google and saw that she has a male name and identifies as trans. She's 15 years old. She started playing this character when she was 12 or 13, and now she's transgender, too.

[–]jet199 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

The scriptwriters are often a bit ignorant and let themselves be lead by the actors. That happened in Sabrina too. The actress came out as trans so they made the character trans. A couple of years later and she's now IDing as non binary. This is why teenagers don't write good scripts or novels about teenagers. They are always completely sure they are right in the moment ... then change.

[–]Aquadog 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ugh then there was a whole storyline about Sabrina maybe making the character an ACTUAL boy...it was so awful.

[–]worried19[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Maybe it will be good exposure if some of these young performers eventually detransition. At least some of them are bound to.

The child on Good Girls appears to be on hormones. I found a video from December, and I couldn't tell for sure, but her voice seems to have been affected by testosterone.

[–]FuriousPenguin 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

I used to bullied for not being girly enough. Short hair, tomboy, sporty and always playing the "rougher" sports. When I read about George from Enid Blyton I got so excited. Imagine if this had happened in that book! I'd have been messed up for life because I've changed completely (except.the hair lol) and I don't want to be a man! But as a kid I'd have been so confused. It's infuriating that kids who can't even vote can decide to take life changing hormones that aren't necessary if everyone was just allowed to feel comfortable in who they are.

[–]worried19[S] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I've been extremely GNC all my life, and it really does weigh down on you having zero role models. It's a wonder I made it to adulthood halfway sane. If I was a child now, I'm positive I'd be transitioning.

[–]Camberian 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I'm an author, and am currently plotting a book with a GNC teen, being myself extremely GNC. I hope people will read it, because these days even YA is horribly gendered.

[–]worried19[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

That's awesome. I hope it gets published. The only teen book I've found with a strong GNC girl is Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard. She's a butch lesbian and has some physical dysphoria, but is explicit in the book that she is not transgender.

It's really crazy how many books there are with female teenagers identifying out of being female. I saw an article once that listed them, and it's got to be at least a dozen, maybe two dozen, all in the last few years. Not only teenagers but also kids in middle school and elementary school.

[–]Camberian 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

A lot of these trans* YA books are written by trans* authors. And yes, I agree, it is disconcerting how this most likely fuels the whole thing even.

[–]jet199 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Meredith Russo, domestic abuser, writes for kids.

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, when you look up many of the authors, they are female but identifying out of being female.

[–]FuriousPenguin 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Exactly! It's a pity that we've come this far down the rabbithole. Humanity really has regressed after all the fighting women did for rights and freedom!

[–]Aquadog 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I was so disappointed when Good Girls decided to go through the trans storyline.

[–]FuriousPenguin 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

The loss of a good show. It was the last good thing on Netflix. Guess I'll just be saving money now.

[–]Aquadog 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

The last season was pretty garbage anyways.

[–]FuriousPenguin 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not surprised. They've been making shows to fit into narratives rather than to be exciting.

[–]Camberian 16 insightful - 1 fun16 insightful - 0 fun17 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I can rec "Unbelievable", as it is definitely pro-fem and pro-women, with very strong and realistic female characters.

Stay away from season 3 of "Designated Survivor". Not only a holier than thou trans sister in law, but also the typical narratives of horrid feminists barring trans*women from the ladies bathroom and so on and forth. Pity, because the first two seasons (not made by Netflix) had a couple of really strong, excellently written women.

[–]InvisibleWoman 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Totally agree. Unbelievable was amazing. It's based on a book about true events so you can read more about these kick ass women if you are interested.

[–]Lyssa 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's realistic because it's based on a real story, unfortunatly...

[–]worried19[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. I hadn't heard of Unbelievable, but it looks good. I added it to my list.

[–]Thatstealthygal 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You might like I Am Not Okay With This, if you don't mind a spot of horror. The main character is a lesbian teenager, somewhat GNC. I liked it.

[–]Literallyawoman 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Hanna on Amazon Prime has a majority female cast of various types showcasing the many strengths of women without having to become or emulate men. SO many badass women in this show I love it! In the second season a few episodes directly involve feminists, one character even gets in a debate with a transwoman in a women’s rights college course though it’s brief, it doesn’t shove transwomen are women down your throat. The show is amazing overall. Also consider Killing Eve on showtime! Multi dimensional female cast and one of my favorite shows ever featuring a female assassin

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Second Killing Eve. I also liked fleabag although not sure how feminist it really is.

[–]Nemesis_Noire 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

killing eve is also on hulu ...#teamvillenelle

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

So far Sex Education actually? Gay guy and straight guy comfortably dress in dresses and they get to remain gay and straight. Handled a lot of women centric issues without policing language too much. I like it so far but I’m sure things will change in season 3 like it always does on Netflix.

[–]worried19[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

This is what worries me about a non-completed series. They can always change things later.

Does Sex Education promote kink or BDSM? That's the other trigger I want to avoid.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

BDSM no, but kink kind of? Spoiler alert: there is a girl who has an alien space sex fetish which is shown more as being hilarious. She’s a virgin so it’s mostly her imagination gone amok. Not sure if that falls in kink. Mostly the sex isn’t violent at all and quite honestly not much of it is there despite the name of the show. And they make consent a huge part of the narrative. In fact, I will say the show is literally about sex education. It’s actually more cute and sweet than raunchy and violent. I like the show and the chemistry between the main characters.

Edit: That said though, I cried during the second season because it tackled sexual assault and abandonment, so that’s a trigger warning. It resonated with me so much. It’s when I fell in love with the show because for once it was honest about how some of us find it hard to move on. I’m glad they addressed that. They even have some of the actors talk about their own experiences as women and sexual assault that they faced. I love the show so far. You can watch it until season 2. The thing typing the seasons together is a cheesy will they won’t they storyline anyway but individual episodes were quite educational.

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Thanks for the info. The alien space thing wouldn't bother me. That sounds more ridiculous than malevolent.

Mostly the sex isn’t violent at all

Is any of it violent? That would be an automatic dealbreaker. I don't mind sexual violence if it's clearly portrayed as bad. A rape storyline would be fine as long as everyone agreed it was a terrible thing. But violence being portrayed as fun or harmless upsets me on a deep level.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Nope. It’s mostly vanilla missionary sex, clothes on or just suggestion of having sex. No violent sex at all. Love it so far because of it. Overall I liked the show. It is written by women so far, so lots of relatable experience.

Edit: They showed the sexual assault very well. I cried when the character cried because you can feel her shame and confusion and isolation. And they had a very good scene about female solidarity.

[–]worried19[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up on all of that. I'll definitely add it to my list.

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

So apparently they're adding a "non-binary" character in season 3.

Definitely not GC-friendly.

[–]Radfem_the_Hun 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

If you like period pieces and supernatural-type stuff, I really loved the Italian Netflix series "Luna Nera." It was created, written, and directed entirely by women, and it's based around witches in the 17th century. It's pretty heavily feminist, honestly (which was a common "critique" of the show I saw in various reviews lol), as the plot sort of revolves around the idea that only women can obtain true magic.

It does have some silly teenage romance subplots, fair warning, but I didn't mind them that much. The adult witches and women are fascinating!!! One of the witches is in a relationship with a non-magical woman who is a societal outcast for being somewhat GNC (for the 1600s, at least), and quite of few of them are physically strong as well as magically powerful. There's one antagonist female character (also kind of GNC as she presents as a "warrior") who ends up being one of the more complex and interesting characters in the whole series. I really appreciate that they don't pit women against one another, and a big theme of the show is how women should protect women, no matter which "side" you are on.

[–]worried19[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. I like medieval-type high fantasy, so I might enjoy a show about witches. I've never watched anything in Italian, but I'd be willing to give it a try.

[–]censorshipment 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My gender critical eye almost goes blind when I'm watching stuff for fun, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt lol

"Old Guard" starring Charlize Theron was trending (#1), so I watched and enjoyed it. Do badass women characters count as GC? "Close" starring Noomi Rapace was also enjoyable.

[–]usernamezerozero 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm not sure if it's still on there, but One Mississippi with Tig Notaro seemed pretty good.

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It doesn't seem to be there anymore, but there are a couple of stand-up specials with Tig Notaro.

[–]Aquadog 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Tuca and Bertie is made from the women behind Bojack Horseman. Once you get over the idea of sentient plants and talking birds, it's a really good story about two 30+ women's friendship. It was cancelled, but Adult Swim just picked it up for season 2!

[–]OrneryStruggle 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

IDK if it's up on netflix anymore or if it's available in all countries, but Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries was a pretty fun show (crime procedural) with a female protagonist that was set in the 20s and thus didn't include any trans-related content. The female protagonist wasn't exactly "GNC"in appearance (although her behaviour was, at least by 1920s standards) but was a pretty cool nuanced female character doing a "man's job" and there were several other interesting female characters on the show.

[–]salty-tomorrow 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Love Miss Fisher! Such a fun show.

[–]thatradicallesbian 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's not openly feminist, but the show "Reign" on Netflix is one of my favorite shows EVER and a huge reason why is because it is very woman-centric. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction in general, BUT it can be difficult to find historical fiction that focuses primarily on female historical figures, rather than solely on kings & other powerful men. "Reign" is quite unique in this respect; the main character is Mary, Queen of Scots (who became queen of both France and Scotland as a child in the 1500s). The show mostly revolves around Queen Mary, but it also highlights the experiences of various women spanning a range of different social classes within the time period– everything from servants to noblewomen to queens...and there's a running theme about how 16th century women could really only gain any power through their relationships with men, no matter how wealthy the women became. I highly recommend the show!

[–]Nemesis_Noire 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

dont waste your time on supergirl unless it's just the first 2 seasons, then they bring in a dude who somehow gets power that only daughters are supposed to inherit...gag me with a superspoon.

[–]Belisarius 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

idk if you're okay with anime but shows like Berserk and LoGH have strong female characters with no sexualization.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

LOGH's cast is 95% male... It didn't age well in that regard.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Watch anime on Crunchyroll instead. I recommend 'Attack on Titan'.

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

One I did add to my list was Nanette with Hannah Gadsby. I think it's a stand-up special. As far as I can tell, she's still calling herself female, so I'm interested in watching it.

[–]Nemesis_Noire 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

from an indiewire article --"she jokes that Hermione Granger from “Harry Potter” is “probably a TERF — fuck her.” Gadbsy is clearly sending a message to critics who viewed her as some sort of old school feminist with harmful views towards trans people. With this joke she’s clearly saying: Not only so I know what a TERF is, but I say fuck ’em all. It’s not one of the best jokes in the show — not by a long shot — but it goes a long way toward establishing Gadsby’s gender politics. That’s something she probably didn’t have to think about before “Nanette” made her a worldwide household name."

[–]worried19[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Do you think she meant that ironically, though? I don't know the whole context, but to me it seems like the exact opposite of what the article is trying to imply.

[–]Torialu 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I feel like she said that to maintain her "non-terf" status and attempt to not get canceled by the gender police. Many times throughout Nanette she strongly implies that lesbians do not like dick. In Douglas she refers to the C-word as a reference to female genitalia. (Also isn't Hermione one of the best characters lmao?)

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I took Nanette off my Netflix list. It turns out Gadsby is a TRA after all, or at least she's pretending to be.