“, ‘Where will I find the environment, or create the environment for myself where I will be valued and that I can further my own intentions of what I want to see in the world?’ The dream is big, and it has to include lots of people.” You need to have the courage-first of all-to move on, which is a little scary for some people. If you don’t like your situation at work, and you’ve done everything in your power to better your situation, then you need to move on.
You can’t complain about where you are and do nothing about it. “The advocating has to come from a place of honesty and research and knowing your value, right? So the first part is kind of taking a look at where you are in your workplace.
“It’s not just about advocating ,” Beals says.
#L word generation q how to
With that in mind, welcome to a new ELLE segment: “Porter Power Hour.” Below, advice from Bette-in Beals’s words-on how to be a badass in the boardroom and an ally to those who don’t have access to it. Since then, she's learned to advocate for herself on film sets, in writers' rooms, and in the producer's chair. At 19, while a student at Yale, she was launched into stardom with 1983’s Flashdance. (Getting intimate with your TA, as Bette did in season 4 of the original series, is not necessarily at the top of the “professionalism 101” list.) But, despite her shortcomings, she stands with Leslie Knope and Olivia Pope as characters whose willingness to fight for what they need in the workplace makes them some of TV's greatest icons.īeals, who admits to having picked up a few tips from Bette over the years, has been working since she was a teenager. And, as we learn, she has reason to be skeptical: Zakarian only wants “marginalized artists” because he thinks they're trendy.Īnd sure, Bette-who says in episode one that she wants a girlfriend with a “career”-isn't always the model career woman. Plus, she's well aware that Zakarian has a history of failing to give opportunities to people who don’t look like him. She comes into the situation with very specific asks for the artists she wants to represent but seems primed for a refusal. Even Bette, at top of her field, is prepared to hear “no” when she asks for what she wants. But it also speaks to something deeper: More than two million women have left the American workforce during the coronavirus pandemic, per Pew Research Center’s April 2021 report, and those who remain are faced with how to negotiate their value, their needs, and their safety in the pandemic's wake. This episode one negotiation scene between Bette and her new boss, Isaac Zakarian (Griffin Dunn) provides us with one classic Bette vs. Bette, who had previously left the art world to run for Los Angeles mayor in season 1 of Gen Q, is now back where she started: trying to make an exclusive, white industry less exclusive and less white. Episode one shows Bette negotiating her contract with the racist, sexist owner of a high-powered art gallery. The L Word: Gen Q’s second season, which premiered on August 8, delivers on more of the first's classics. On any given day when the patriarchy is churning out more vitriol than usual, Google “Bette Porter scream” or “Bette Porter curse,” and you'll find a suitably appropriate response. It helps that The L Word writers provide the audience with men deserving of every sharp comeback Bette can launch their way. But one of Bette's most enduring (and endearing) consistencies? She can put a man in his place faster than practically any other character onscreen. She has ushered Bette through her life’s biggest changes: losing a parent, becoming a parent, marrying and divorcing the love of her life, losing her sister, a mayoral run, and raising a teenager.
During the past 17-plus years, Beals has seen Bette through several heartbreaks, breakups, and make-ups. Jennifer Beals has been embodying the iconic power-lesbian character since the show first premiered in early 2004, and today she serves as an executive producer on the Showtime follow-up The L Word: Generation Q. There are three types of L Word fans: people who identify with Bette Porter, people who want to be with Bette Porter, or people who are a bit of.both.