Samantha Allen

Bio

Samantha Allen writes about gender, sexuality, and technology. She is currently a staff writer at The Daily Beast. Her work has also appeared on The Advocate, Salon, Mic, Huffington Post, Kinsey Confidential, Jacobin, and in Adult Magazine. Samantha holds a Ph.D. in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Emory University.
An "Undocumented Immigrant" Is Generating Serious Oscar Buzz
By Samantha Allen
One of the most difficult things about having privilege is giving it up, but that's exactly what Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas did in 2011. That year, the movement to pass the DREAM Act, a bill that would allow immigrants who…
5 Things We’d Believe About Gender If Only We Listened to This Fall’s Sitcoms
By Samantha Allen
One medium's trash is truly another medium's treasure. Just as Hollywood was finally beginning to deconstruct the conventions and stereotypes of the romantic comedy, television has bought into those same tropes wholesale with three new shows in a…
The Best Reason to Love 'Friends' Is the One We Never Realized at the Time
By Samantha Allen
It's been nearly 20 years since Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Joey and Phoebe first met up at Central Perk for a fateful cup of coffee. The pilot of Friends aired on Sept. 22, 1994, and the last episode of the series aired in May 2004. Contrary to…
The Fall Television Season Is A Major Moment in the Transgender Movement
By Samantha Allen
When TIME passed over Laverne Cox in April for their 2014 list of the 100 most influential people in the world despite overwhelming reader support, transgender advocates criticized the magazine for the obvious oversight.  "Laverne Cox's absence on…
Why 'Modern Family's' Fifth Emmy Should Be Its Last
By Samantha Allen
It was perhaps only fitting that Jay Leno presented Modern Family with its fifth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series Monday night at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC. Like Leno himself, Modern Family keeps winning big over more…
Amazon's New Show is an Exciting Step Forward for LGBT Representation
By Samantha Allen
The word "transgender" is not uttered once in the pilot of the new dramatic comedy Transparent, an Amazon Original Series from Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under, United States of Tara). But it's the word that's bound to be on every character's lips when…
Hollywood's LGBT Characters Are Doing More Harm Than Good
By Samantha Allen
GLAAD released on Tuesday its annual Studio Responsibility Index, which measures the quantity and quality of LGBT characters in contemporary Hollywood films. While Laverne Cox's breakthrough role on Orange is the New Black helped to make 2013 a…
What Life Is Actually Like in the Prison From 'Orange Is the New Black'
By Samantha Allen
The second season of acclaimed Netflix series Orange Is the New Black came out on Friday. But before you binge-watch all the episodes in one sitting, take a moment to consider its setting and the accuracy of its representation of prison life. The…
The Most Anticipated Video Game of the Year Has Failed Female Gamers
By Samantha Allen
Aiden Pearce, the protagonist of Ubisoft's highly-anticipated Watch Dogs, looks very familiar. Dark hair, early 30s, scruffy facial hair: If you were to put Pearce in a police lineup along with the other protagonists of the most popular…
The Surprising New Place Where LGBT People Are Finding Themselves
By Samantha Allen
Video games, at first glance, might not seem to be the most obvious medium for young queer folk, but they are fast becoming one of the most vital spaces for queer self-discovery. Transgender gamers, especially, are exploring their identities within…