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Laci Green: The Feminist Best Friend You've Always Wanted

If you haven't already heard of Laci Green, your life is about to change. The 25-year-old sex positivity educator and vlogger is the awesome, feminist big sister you’ve always wanted. And all of her content is just a click away.

Following the success of Laci’s personal Youtube channel, which recently reached 1.17 million subscribers, the self described “sexuality geek” has partnered with MTV to create a new Youtube series called “Braless.” This channel, much like Laci’s personal one, will discuss gender and sexuality issues, but through the lens of pop culture. So far, she has discussed twerking and sexism, censorship on television, and Ferguson. By using real-world examples that are familiar to the MTV audience to approach these topics, Laci is able to honestly and unpretentiously discuss relevant issues of gender, sexuality, and race.

As a longtime fan of Green, I can personally vouch for how effectively she has educated me. Her personal channel has spanned topics from hookup culture to feminism to consent without being “preachy” or condescending. She actually wants to educate people about topics that are otherwise ignored or considered too taboo to speak openly about in our society.

Over her six years as a Youtuber, her relatability, honesty, and great sense of humor have attracted numerous, loyal fans, including the people at MTV. As Colin Helms, MTV’s SVP of connected content said of the vlogger, “Laci has a big following in this space (Youtube), with content presented in a smart, funny way that’s a fit for our demo.” Of course, there are those who claim Laci is "selling out," but "Braless" clearly seems to be a passion project for the network. MTV isn’t selling any advertising on the Braless channel, apparently aiming to focus on engaging the Youtube audience through educational videos. Sounds like a great deal to me.

While Laci’s aspirations may extend beyond Youtube, her desire to personally connect with her audience is at the heart of it all. She tells Blackbird, “My long-term philosophy about it is that by working together -- and not just me, but lots of other people who are voices in this space -- we can make a positive change so that the world’s a little bit better when we leave it.”

This was most recently evident when Laci became the face of the case against Sam Pepper, a Youtube star who made sexist and offensive videos. Laci discussed the case on television shows and on her Youtube channel after writing a public and open letter to Sam, asking (rather nicely) for him to apologize for his mistakes and do better. Despite becoming a target for threats by simply speaking out for equality and fair treatment of women within the Youtube community, Laci stuck to her beliefs and goal of mobilizing her audience for positive change.

Green is aware that her career path may continue to breed backlash. In an interview with Blackbird, Green says, “I’ve had to move, I’ve had restraining orders -- there’s been a lot of messed up stuff that’s happened behind the scenes. And my perspective is that I just have to do what I can to stay safe, because otherwise they succeed at exactly what they’re trying to do, which is to silence me and keep me from talking about these things.” However, Laci is not deterred by these setbacks, but rather sees them as powerful signs about the ever-growing feminist movement: “I think that when people attack [feminists], it’s a sign of our own power. We are obviously threatening them in some way and threatening that ideology. I just try to stay positive about it.”

If I haven’t convinced you that Green is the awesome feminist best friend you’ve always wanted, be sure to check out MTV Braless and Laci’s personal channel. Whether you’re new to all of these topics or talk about them daily, this badass Youtuber has something to teach everyone.



More articles by Category: Education, Feminism, Media, Online harassment, Violence against women
More articles by Tag: News, Sexuality, Sexual harassment, Sex education, Activism and advocacy, Social media, Women's leadership, Television
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