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Entertainment February 21, 2017
It’s no secret Netflix has a slew of categories you’ve probably never heard of like “Quirky Romances”, “New Zealand Movies” or “Satanic Stories” (unless you’re into that sort of thing).
Now you can add another hidden category to the list “Women Who Persisted.”
Yes, it appears Netflix has quietly added the category to its streaming service and loaded it with films about strong, resilient women who refused to back down from a fight. To which we say ? ? ?!
It’s unclear when exactly the category first appeared, but it seems to be a play off the phrase “Nevertheless, she persisted” which suggests it’s a recent addition.
If you recall the newly-iconic phrase emerged earlier this month after Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for criticizing then attorney general nominee Senator Jeff Sessions. McConnell felt it necessary to cut Warren off mid-speech, which did not go over well with the public.
McConnell later defended his actions by saying “Senator Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
Democrats, and social media users, were up in arms over Warren’s treatment and liberals found a new battle cry in “Nevertheless, she persisted” along with the hashtag #LetLizSpeak.
Netflix is now taking the phrase one step further by turning it into a category and highlighting other women who persisted.
The category features films like “The Hunting Ground”, a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. “Celia”, based on the real life of Celia Cruz, a 1950’s singer in Cuba who overcame sexism and racism. And “Difret”, a film produced by Angelina Jolie which is based on the true story of an Ethiopian girl who fought back against her rural village’s tradition of kidnapping women for marriage.
But before anyone from the alt-right decides to #BoycottNetflix (again) for their seemingly feminist message, we should point out that Netflix’s categories are not political statements. “We categorize our content into thousands of subgenres to help match the right content to the right member based on their viewing history,” Netflix spokesperson Marlee Tart told Mashable back in 2016 regarding the vast amount of categories.
That said if you’re looking for some “Netflix and Persist” this weekend, dive right in!
