Branches Book

BRANCHES

what obnoxious jerks always say, ‘[using stupid voice] No, this is males only. Go start your own club.’ She couldn’t. So I did. We’re called the Pawnee Goddesses and we’re freaking awesome.” This origin provides the framework for the feminist nature of the episode: the Goddesses are formed as a reaction to rejection from the all-boys Pawnee Rangers. The Goddesses are an effort to extend equal opportunities to girls in addition to boys. However, because the over-arching institution is unsympathetic, these “equal” opportunities are offered separately. The Pawnee Goddesses focus on empowering the girls of Pawnee and building a sense of sisterhood among them. Because their creation occurs before the content of the episode, it indicates to the audience that the Goddesses represent past feminist ideology. The creation of the Pawnee Goddesses mimics mid-twentieth century feminism, which arose as a reaction against domesticity– the general de facto rejection of women in the workforce– and sought to empower the woman. This created a woman- centric movement (often criticized for a lack of intersectionality) focused on empowerment, much like the Pawnee Goddesses, who even in their name, celebrate their feminine identity. Later conflict within the Pawnee Goddesses portrays current feminism. While the Goddesses are having fun in a cabin by the lake, Ron’s troop, the Pawnee Rangers, are stuck trying to make tents with only canvas and cardboard while eating cold canned beans. The unequal living conditions lead a Ranger to defect to the Goddesses. The defecting Ranger, Daren, requests to join the Goddesses, though is rejected by Leslie. Some of the other Goddesses take issue with her decision, arguing, “Wasn’t Daren just asking for the same equality that you and the Goddesses wanted five years ago?” Part of the troop asserts that rejecting the boys would be equitable to the initial rejection experienced by the girls with the Rangers, and therefore against what the Goddesses stand for. This is similar to current dominant feminist rhetoric, which has pivoted from the idea of “women’s rights” to that of “gender equality.” This pivot seeks to answer a question about the underlying belief system and purpose of feminism– is it intended to further women’s rights and therefore strive for equality, or is it intended to further equality and therefore achieve greater women’s rights? The current wave of popular feminism predominantly argues that the primary goal of feminism is equality first, a view that is held by Leslie’s troop. However, Leslie, as the founder of the Goddesses, subscribes more to the view of feminism as furthering women’s rights. This is made clear when she responds to her troop, “Come on, Goddesses. We just struck a huge blow for equality by proving that we were better than them.” It is immediately evident in her statement that she values the effect of her troop more than its original, underlying purpose. Others within Leslie’s troop voice differing opinions during the

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