Radical Podcasting: Resistance, Social Media and Guys We F****d
I’m a fan of podcasts. I listen to my selected favorites religiously, one of which is called Gilmore Guys, a show where two 20-something guys really get into the dynamics and quirks of Gilmore Girls. It’s as ridiculous as it is amazing and I truly appreciate their dedication to a show that while a critical darling is not very popular, especially among men. So it could be said that Gilmore Guys is a type of resistance media, trying to challenge the hegemonic masculine ideals of what popular media men are supposed to like and consume, and delving into a show that is by and large female-led, female-consumed, and female-analyzed. But I think the nature of podcasts allows for this type of medium to thrive, because it allows for a collaborative effort on subject matters that aren’t necessarily of popular interest.
Recently, I tried to branch out while looking for new podcasts to listen to, and I happened upon Guys We F****d, the self-proclaimed “Anti-Slut Shaming podcast” and a safe space where women and men alike can talk about their sexual and relational experiences openly, analyze them, and not be judged for them. Two comediennes named Krystyna and Corinne host the podcast. They both claim to be sexually experienced but “naïve”, which is an interesting claim, considering the subject matter of their podcast. They make the distinction early on during almost every episode, that even though they enjoy sex and have a lot of experience with it, they still don’t completely understand the nature and politics of it. They’re open with what they know and what they don’t know, they’re brash, piercingly funny, witty, exceedingly honest, they fire off expletives without a care in the world, they’re unabashedly ready to share and explore sex, and they give no f**ks while doing it. It’s radical and it’s a resistance to the mainstream because they’re creating an outlet for women and men to talk about issues that aren’t sugarcoated by the mainstream filter. They’re talking about female hair loss, miscarriages, anal sex, topics that are rarely discussed in the mainstream but they feel should be delved into which is self-evident by the amount of social media discussion they participate in with their listeners. According to Carrie Rentschler’s Rape Culture and the Feminist Politics of Social Media, this type of content is necessary to create awareness of issues that are otherwise ignored and this podcast serves as a forum for this discussion to thrive and become a sort of feminist collective.
Their episodes integrate an interview with someone who has a rare, vital experience with relationships and sex that they feel is important for their listeners to hear. They are often powerful and can even be terrifying. For example, Krystyna and Corinne recently interviewed a woman named “Ashley” (a pseudonym used to hide her true identity for safety purposes), in an episode titled “YOU FELT LIKE AN ANIMAL BEING HUNTED”, a lawyer and survivor of rape and domestic abuse. Her experiences are admittedly insane and something I’ve only ever encountered while watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I was floored and wasn’t aware that there were actual women going through such nail-biting situations. “Ashley” talked about being stalked and manipulated by her ex-boyfriend, while receiving “200 phones calls per day” from him, having to hide from him at college, being “strangled by him”, and accepting the prospect of death because of his coercion and abuse and her bouts with “severe depression, anorexia, and bulimia”. Honestly, I wasn’t at all prepared for Ashley’s account. However sad and horrifying, her experiences serve to aid those women and men who are going through similar experiences and validate them by discussing specifics about consent and victim-blaming that are often muddled in the mainstream. Krystyna and Corinne are highly aware of this. They asked “Ashley” for her advice both as a lawyer and survivor of sexual assault and domestic abuse, to create a safe space for their listeners. Because of the proliferation of reactionary material from their audience members, Krystyna and Corinne with the help of guests like Ashley, are able to gain clout in a medium like podcasting and on social media in order to bring attention to the anti-slut shaming movement and topics that are stigmatized by the mainstream.
Not only do I think this type of resistance is effective, further I think because of media like Guys We F****d, resistance in the general sense is very possible especially if alternative media outlets like podcasting are taken advantage of to spread messages that will create a forum for women to learn from each other, respond and validate each other’s experiences, and create a sense of “response-ability”. “Response-ability” refers to a form of accountability where if someone sees or in this case hears something concerning they should be able to interact with the forum and “call it out” to build a supportive and reactive community. That could be through through interaction with the hosts or other listeners through platforms where the podcast is consumed, especially on social media. So, Krystyna and Corinne’s amusing and honest efforts prove that resistance can be successful.
(Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson, hosts of Guys We F****d)
*This was a blog post written for the likes of Vulture.