Feminist Bookstore from 'Portlandia' Accuses Show of Transmisogyny, Gentrification and Whitewashing

Since it first aired in 2011, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein's sketch comedy show Portlandia has featured a recurring sketch that sees the pair play grumpy proprietors of a feminist bookstore. The real-life Portland bookstore where the sketch is filmed has now decided that it will refuse to work with Portlandia any longer.

The real-life store is called In Other Words, and yesterday they posted a pointed blog post simply titled "Fuck Portlandia."

In the piece, the store accused Portlandia staff of mistreating their employees, forcing their neighbours to shut down business for the day and leaving the shop a mess when they were done with it.

Having their store appear on the show hasn't helped business, either. The piece alleges that it has just resulted in people taking selfies in front of their shop's sign.

It doesn't end there. The piece also suggests that Portlandia promotes a pro-gentrification message and that the feminist bookstore sketches utilize transmisogyny for cheap laughs.

Further, In Other Words point out that the show is seriously lacking in people of colour. The last time Portlandia shot in their store, the show asked them to take down a Black Lives Matter sticker (which they refused to do).

Armisen and Brownstein have not yet commented on the post. It's as of now unclear whether or not the feminist bookstore characters will appear in Portlandia's seventh season, which is currently in production.

Here's the full letter from the bookstore:


Being on Portlandia Doesn't Make Us Money


The Show Sucks



Gentrification Isn't a Joke

Portlandia is fueling mass displacement in Portland. Fred and Carrie are on billboards and realtors have gleefully begun using Portlandia's popularity and insipid humor ('put a bird on it!') to make displacing the communities that made Portland a great place in the first place something twee and whimsical for the incoming technocrat hordes.
