Broad Sheet: Let's Get Animated

In this, our newest recurring feature, SheWired's editors will get you the low-down on all the can't-miss, female-centric entertainment highlights coming up this week. Just think of it as our list of Totally Awesome Things That Will Remind You Why It Rocks To Be A Woman. Don't worry, you can thank us later. 

10. YouTube: Sailor Moon Battles Wonder Woman at Street Star
By now, you’ve probably seen it, but it’s Friday, so don’t we all deserve to watch this bitchin’ costumed dance-off on YouTube one more time? A woman (or girl?) dressed as Sailor Moon and another as Wonder Woman took the stage to battle it out at Stockholm’s 2013 Street Star Dance Festival (in the Vogue Femme Final Battle), and thank god someone was there with a camera. Hint: Fast-forward to 3:50 and watch them both panting and entwined on the floor then doing pelvic tilts to a heavy beat. Perfect. If this leads to more super heroine dance hotties then I’m all for it. — Diane Anderson-Minshall

9. EVENT: EDEN Pacific Northwest
Looking for a fun-filled multi-day party with boatloads of other women between now and The Dinah? Then look no further than Seaside, Oregon's first annual Women's Weekend, October 3-6, which will include a comedy show, a beach bonfire, parties, live music, and a guided hike along the beautiful Oregon coast. EdenPNW.com — Michelle Garcia

8. TV: The Michael J. Fox Show  
NBC did the world a favor by bringing Michael J. Fox — a mainstay who’s made every TV show he’s ever been in better (see Spin City, Family Ties, et. al.) —  back to TV. But we’re loving the chicks on his show almost as much, especially Juliette Goglia, who plays his daughter Eve. Goglia, who played a young Emma Stone in Easy A, had a nice arc on this week’s episode about trying to befriend her lesbian classmate. But things turn out to not be all they seem. Still, offering lesbian high school students that both parents and classmates are OK with? That’s OK by us! We'll add bonus points for Breaking Bad's Betsy Brandt and Wonderfalls' Katie Finneran, the latter of whom we really hope turns out to be bisexual. — Diane Anderson-Minshall

7. Blu-ray: The Little Mermaid: Diamond Edition  
Laugh it up, but I know plenty of women and girls who still love Ariel, and are looking forward to revisiting childhood memories with the release of The Little Mermaid: Diamond Edition 3D, which comes out October 1. The Blu-ray contains oceans full of bubbly bonus features, including a video of Carly Rae Jepsen singing “Part Of Your World,” a featurettes with current Disney animators who were inspired by the film, and another called The Real Little Mermaid: Live Action Reference Model. There’s plenty more, including Crab-e-okee. The three-disc Blu-ray combo pack is a must for fans. Watch this clip of Ariel bemoaning the fact that she was born in the wrong body for the life she wants to lead and tell me it’s not species non-conforming and queer. — Diane Anderson-Minshall

 

6. Book: Cross and Burn
Nothing in the last decade has dissuaded me from the belief that Val McDermid is the greatest lesbian crime writer there is. The bestselling author of 26 novels, the Scottish novelist has released her newest, Cross and Burn, which stars her perversely curious and intimately flawed forensic psychologist, Tony Hill, and his smartly feminist police detective partner, Carol Hill. (The duo are stars in the popular BBC/America TV series, Wire in the Blood, which is based on the books and has played on television in several different countries). In Cross and Burn, the Jordan-Hill relationship is in tatters, yet somehow remains the heart of the story. Brilliant. Again. — Diane Anderson-Minshall

5. THEATER: Fun Home
Beloved Dykes to Watch Out For cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s acclaimed graphic memoir — about her family’s funeral business (the “fun home”), her closeted gay father, and her own coming-out as a lesbian — becomes a world premiere musical at New York City’s esteemed Public Theater. Lisa Kron of Five Lesbian Brothers fame provides the adaptation and lyrics to music by Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change), and Sam Gold directs a cast that includes Michael Cerveris and Judy Kuhn. Opens Monday and runs through November 3; tickets and info here. — Trudy Ring

4. Travel: The Celesbian Roster on the Next Olivia Cruise
Olivia Travel , the world’s largest travel company for lesbians, announced just a few of the luminaries joining their Equality and Leadership Summit, taking place on their eight-day (Feb. 1-8, 2014) Eastern Caribbean cruise. Among them: keynote speaker Dr. Maya Angelou, civil rights pioneer Edie Windsor, Florida Congresswoman and Chair of the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, Emmy award-winning actress Meredith Baxter, Col. Grethe Cammermeyer, former HRC head Elizabeth Birch, and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kate Kendell. This may be your only chance to talk politics at night and watch power lesbians drink pina coladas and go snorkeling during the day. — Diane Anderson-Minshall

3. BOOKS: Ellen Hart, The Mirror and the Mask, The Cruel Ever After
Get ready to spend cool fall days curled up with a good mystery as Bywater Books releases the first paperback editions of two novels from Ellen Hart’s popular Jane Lawless series. The Mirror and the Mask finds lesbian restaurateur and amateur sleuth Lawless turning pro as a private investigator and uncovering a wealthy family’s secrets when she takes on a missing-persons case. In The Cruel Ever After, Lawless’s ex-husband turns up and brings with him complications involving pilfered antiquities and murder. Hart also has a new Lawless tale, Taken By the Wind, out this fall, and she’s on a book tour as well. — Trudy Ring

2. EVENT: Knights In Shining Armor
Runway shows aren't just reserved for Victoria's Secret models and Kate Moss. On September 28, 11 designers specializing in butch and masculine women's wear will show off their creations with the help of 30 models and musical performances by Mary Lambert, Jenn-Jenn, and Dra Muzic. Facebook.com/WhatIsButch— Michelle Garcia

1. BOOK: Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive by Julia Serano
Award-winning transgender, bisexual author, performer and activist Julia Serano's latest tome delves into the unsettlingly exclusionary nature of modern feminist and queer movements. Although both feminists and radical queers claim to value diversity and seek inclusion, the broader feminist and queer movements often leave little space for anyone who doesn't fit a specific narrative. For example, feminism has a long history of excluding lesbians, and the modern queer movement has emerged as a largely white, homogeneous group with a certain aesthetic. Those who don't fit those prescribed narratives are, as Serano notes, Excluded. In characteristic thought-provoking and dense text, Serano offers possible solutions to finally reach the egalitarian society each of these equality-minded movements claims to desire. Excluded is available through Seal Press starting October 1. - Sunnivie Brydum