By Lori Adelman • @ladelman • 14 years ago

Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah: Ellen DeGeneres on American Idol


Congrats to American Idol! They’ve just upped the ante on their already-hugely successful show by bringing on Ellen DeGeneres: comedian extraordinaire, media mogul, talk show host, inspirational speaker, prolific dancer, same sex marriage advocate, and all around bad ass woman.
I’m a huge fan of this decision because I think Ellen is hilarious and lovable and her presence will most likely make me enjoy the show a lot more on those (rare I swear!) occasions that I tune in. But it seems like the move has also spurred something of a different reaction in the blogosphere and beyond: namely, that of questioning:
Will Ellen DeGeneres make American Idol “gayer”?
One problem with this question that I’m going to have to point out right away is that- and I’m truly sorry to break this to you America- American Idol is already pretty, really, very gay.
Another thing is that the presence of someone queer does not always a “gayer” show make, just as the presence of a person of color doesn’t always make the show more geared towards people of color, or even necessarily more tolerant of them.
This is especially true if that person is tokenized, toned down, glossed over, marginalized, or heavily censured, all of which I hope Ellen is not subjected to on American Idol.
That being said, she’s already given interviews in which she alluded to being “the people’s judge,” and for this reason and more I am hopeful and optimistic that Ellen’s presence will make the show more queer friendly and just generally more tolerant and inclusive.
So I’d like to devote a huge Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah to the intelligent and- dare I say- progressive decision of American Idol to choose such a down to earth, inspirational, and compassionate queer feminist as the newest addition to their show.

Brooklyn, NY

Lori Adelman started blogging with Feministing in 2008, and now runs partnerships and strategy as a co-Executive Director. She is also the Director of Youth Engagement at Women Deliver, where she promotes meaningful youth engagement in international development efforts, including through running the award-winning Women Deliver Young Leaders Program. Lori was formerly the Director of Global Communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and has also worked at the United Nations Foundation on the Secretary-General's flagship Every Woman Every Child initiative, and at the International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch. As a leading voice on women’s rights issues, Lori frequently consults, speaks and publishes on feminism, activism and movement-building. A graduate of Harvard University, Lori has been named to The Root 100 list of the most influential African Americans in the United States, and to Forbes Magazine‘s list of the “30 Under 30” successful mediamakers. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lori Adelman is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Partnerships.

Read more about Lori

Join the Conversation