Content for All Kinds of Love
Aidy Bryant dancing at a plus-size pool party in Season One of Shrill. Image credit: Allyson Riggs/Hulu
Happy Valentine’s / Galentine’s / Palentine’s / just another day in this cold, cold month! February 14th is what it is. It’s lots of chocolate, it’s tacky and heteronormative jewelry commercials, it’s sexy, it’s hypersexualized, it sucks, it’s fun, it’s just whatever. But I think we can all agree that as Ilana and Abbi astutely said in the “Mushrooms” episode of Broad City: “Love Is Cool!” Here’s a selection of content that celebrates the many different kinds of love. Enjoy!
Self Love
Season Two of Shrill kicks off with Annie’s self love absolutely popping and it’s great.
Watch: Shrill - Season Two just dropped on Hulu and the series written by Lindy West and starring Aidy Bryant is as great as ever. It follows a plus-sized writer on her exploration of self love through the brutal world of journalism and even worse: the internet.
Read: Amp by GLAAD - an online publication dedicated to uplifting stories about LGBTQ+ youth, featuring many beautiful love letters to self from a student starting T, a student finding their asexual identity, trans POC students from across the country, and more.
Listen: Fresh Air: Lizzo On Feminism, Self-Love And Bringing 'Hallelujah Moments' To Stage - we already know that Lizzo is the patron saint of the “self-love bop,” but it’s pretty special to hear about her inspirations and journey in her own words.
Family Love
The Season One trailer for Everything's Gonna Be Okay showcases one of many complicated family situations, but the love runs deep.
Watch: Everything’s Gonna Be Okay - the newest show from strange and lovely Australian comedian Josh Thomas, about a young guy who becomes the guardian for his little sisters after their dad passes away. This show is the definition of heart-warming, and still somehow hilarious.
Read: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong - debut novel from a Vietnamese-American poet which is part winding, beautiful narrative, and part love letter from a son to his mother who can’t read.
Listen: The Nod: We Choose Our Own Families - a reminder that some families are chosen. The Nod explores the role of the chosen family in pop culture and specifically on TV show Pose and the special kind of love that forms within in one.
Friend Love
The kids of Derry Girls teach us the importance of love in times of armed conflict and high school in this Season Two trailer.
Watch: Derry Girls - both seasons of this lovely show are now on Netflix, about a group of friends in high school in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Part history lesson, part fun 90s nostalgia, but all just friends loving each other through trials of conflict.
Read: Homie: Poems by Danez Smith - a beautiful, stirring collection of poems from an unbelievable poet about friendship and intimacy that doesn’t shy away from the daily realities of violence and racism.
Listen: Nancy: A Gaggle For Me - from one our favorite podcasts about various queer topics, this one covers the magic of queer friendship and how to create your own “gaggle.”
Partner Love
Never has a show captured the cheesiness of love and romance like Jane the Virgin.
Watch: Jane the Virgin - the show has been over for a year but don’t worry, all FIVE seasons are on Netflix. Based on a Venezuelan telenovela, this show is all about love and romance, and pays homage to the much slept-on genre of romance novels.
Read: Modern Love edited by Daniel Jones - an expansive collection of the essays from The New York Times’ “Modern Love” series to break, warm, and soothe your cold dead little heart.
Listen: Dating While Gray - so this podcast is not out yet but we’re still very excited about the emergence of stories about love, dating, and sex for older people. Too many of the romantic, partnered love stories we see are reserved for young people, but love happens always.
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Sabrina Bleich is a member of the Body Politic team and contributor to Body Type. She works in TV development and as a writer/researcher for film, TV, and podcasts. She dabbles in comedy as a member of the sketch comedy group, God Should Not Have Chosen Us. Find her infrequent tweets and other pieces at @rabbisabbi.
