Friday, 1 December 2022

Lupus is Sexy Too


This email I received was just so awesome in so many ways, I'm just going to give reprint the whole thing:

Hello!

My name is Genevieve Flati and I am the creator/director of a show called "(Wo)men Rule Broadway." The show is a musical theater review where women perform roles that were originally written for men. But, we perform them as women.The show went up last year, and we were super successful. We sold out every show, with a high demand for more. We had Tara Strong and Eg Daily as our featured celebrity guest performers. (Powerpuff girls, Rugrats, Harley Quinn, etc.)

The concept came from a lifetime of being in entertainment, and seeing that most of the "good" roles went to men, while the women were stuck with the boring songs, side romantic plots, and overall uselessness (except to be objectified and overly sexualized). There ARE amazing roles that express all parts of human nature (Alexander Hamilton, The Phantom, Elder Price, etc), and even though I am a wooooommmaaannnn, I am still a fully complex human with more to me than "O look at that man! I hope he notices me and rescues me from my predicament!"

I wanted to give opportunities to women that have been previously denied because of their gender and/or race. I was tired of waiting around, hoping that someone in a position of power would recognize all of this untapped talent in these women and POC. Eventually, I realized that I was someone, and decided to put myself in a position of power, so I could do just that for the women around me.

In April of 2017 I had a huge medical attack and was diagnosed with lupus. It's an autoimmune disease where your immune system is overactive and attacks your organs. Essentially, your body is trying to kill itself.
As there is no cure, they battle it by putting you on chemo. I have been on weekly chemo treatments every Friday since April, and still have a ways to go. (CHEMO FRIDAYS ARE EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE DAY, YO.)
I was unsure of what I wanted to do about this for a long time. I only told a few friends and family. But, as I am a sociopath, I was like.... "Ok, so what am I gonna do with this?" The answer, of course is... A FREAKING SHOW! YAS KWEEEEN!
So, my Co-Creator and I discussed it for a while, and I said that I wanted to do another Women Rule Broadway and we will donate a portion of our proceeds to a lupus research foundation. (Last year we donated to The Downtown Women's Center)

SO THIS YEAR WE ARE DOING...
(Wo)men Rule Broadway Presents: Lupus is Sexy Too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PpTyEdgsRQ&t=1s


Only this time, WE ARE ADDING MEN INTO THE CAST because feminism is about equality for everybody, and men have their own stereotypes/societal pressures to deal with as well.

Please please please help us spread the word about our Kickstarter and our show. We want to fight racial and gender stereotypes in Hollywood, society, and the media. We want to raise money for a disease that many people (including Selena Gomez, Nick Cannon, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, and more!)


So we are doing: (Wo)men Rule Broadway Presents: Lupus is Sexy Too!

The name comes from the fact that when you tell people that you are on chemo, they usually get all hot and bothered and say:


Them:  "Oh my god, you are so brave and wonderful for being on chemotherapy..."
                          *heavy breathing* 

              "If you don't mind..."

                         *they stroke your hair, all turned on by your tragedy* 

            "what kind of cancer do you have?"

Me: "O, I don't have cancer, I have lupus, but I'm still on chemo-"

Them: *OUTRAGED* "YOu DoOnt have CANCER?!?! Who cares about your NONCanCER disease!?!?! GET OUT OF HERE YOU HOBO!"


SOOOOOOO....

I want people to know that LUPUS IS SEXY TOO. We want your pitty sex too. Give it to us.

OH, and, I want to help make the world a better, less racist, less sexist place for everybody. That would be great too.


I hope you can help me get the word out about our show!

Thank you for your time!
Genevieve Flati

What can I add to all of that except - is there some wealthy person out there who would sponsor my trip to America to review this?  No? Never mind.  I'll just be happy knowing this is going on...