It’s been a depressing start to the year for those of us who care about women’s access to contraception and abortion, be it the fight over the Obama administration’s contraception coverage rule or Virginia’s attempts to require women to have transvaginal ultrasounds before they obtain abortions. And whether it’s CNN’s Dana Loesch tweeting that women have already consented to be penetrated or Rush Limbaugh declaring “what would you expect from a woman driver?” when Danica Patrick said she supported Obama’s decision, it’s been even more discouraging to see how that debate’s been amplified in the media. So if you need encouragement, here are ten pieces of pop culture that will make you laugh, think, and keep you in the fight for women’s rights at a time when the war on women makes America seem more like The Handmaid’s Tale than a modern country:

1. A stirring defense of middle-aged men’s right to comment at length about women’s health: Also, a chance to hear Nick Offerman say the word “vagina” and explain to us that: “Oral contraception is bad, plain and simple. Why? Because I don’t understand how it works and science scares me.”

2. Martha Plimpton on Personhood in Slate: She’s already the star of the best working-class sitcom currently on television, Raising Hope. She’s an awesome progressive Tweeter. And now, she’s dropping knowledge about the Affordable Care Act.

3. Annalee Newitz’s complete guide to science fiction and reproductive rights: The book that gets namechecked every time conservatives start proposing draconian measures to control women’s health is Margaret Atwood’s masterpiece The Handmaid’s Tale. While that book, a portrait of an America taken over by religious fundamentalists in the wake of a nuclear attack, is absolutely required reading, Annalee’s guide points out books that get at male anxieties at having their fertility controlled as well. Now if only we could strike a deal where we promise not to steal men’s sperm if they promise not to colonize our ovaries.

4. Sons of Anachy, Season 3, “Lochan Mor”: If you need a reminder that ever-so-occasionally, television’s capable of treating abortion like the medical procedure—and sometimes even bring a dose of humor to the occasion, watch this episode of television in which Lyla, Opie’s girlfriend, visits an abortion clinic. And watch out for the name she uses to make her appointment.

5. Sometimes, you encounter an issue that just requires a good old-fashioned flabbergast-off: Also, Amy Poehler pretty much killed me with this line: “I’ve got so many miles on Transvaginal that I always get upgraded to Ladybusiness.” Please, please let Parks & Recreation stay on the air long enough for Ron and Leslie to have some version of this conversation.

If you need any more proof that conservatives don’t just want to protect their own kids from material they find objectionable, they don’t want anyone to have any access to it, ever, check out the One Million Moms freakout over Archie Comics at Toys ‘R’ Us. They’re writing to the chain:

As a mother and a member of OneMillionMoms.com, I am extremely disappointed to learn that select Toys ‘R’ Us stores are now selling ‘Archie’ comic books with a same-sex wedding displayed on the front cover. I am referring to the ones where the front cover reads “Just Married” with two men marrying, one wearing a service uniform. I am aware that Toys ‘R’ Us employees do not actually set up the displays; they leave this up to the vendor. Your company should be aware of the merchandise being sold in your stores nonetheless. These comic books are displayed at the front checkout counters so they are highly visible to employees, managers, customers and children.

Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to same-sex marriage in your toy store. This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand. Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, which is becoming extremely common and unnecessary. A trip to the toy store turns into a premature discussion on sexual orientation and is completely uncalled for. Toys ‘R’ Us should be more responsible in the products they carry.

If your children are too young for a discussion about the fact that sometimes two men or two women love each other the way Mommy and Daddy do, they are also probably far too young to see any other comic books or tabloids that are displayed routinely at checkouts, or to any of the violent or sexual toys or games that are regularly peddled at large toy chains. There’s always the option of shopping for toys while your children are at school or with another parent. And if your children are old enough to read, but you don’t want them reading the cover of this one comic book, hand them a new or favorite book while they’re at the checkout line.

I do sympathize with parents who want to expose their children to age-appropriate content, but I draw the line at those who think they have a right to a world where they don’t have to be exposed to anything that contradicts their worldview, and who are prepared to demand that, rather than to try to find reasonable workarounds. And if you want your kids to share your views even in a world that doesn’t, you’re probably going to have to raise them to believe strongly enough even when they’re exposed to new things. Keeping Archie comics out of Toys ‘R’ Us won’t keep gay couples invisible in the world the One Million Moms’ kids will grow up in.

I very much wanted to like Smash, NBC’s show about the making of a Broadway musical, and not just because I’m eager for the generally well-intentioned network to be repaid for Parks and Recreation and Community with some huge commercial successes. I’m interested in people’s artistic processes, and I adore Anjelica Huston and Debra Messing, who star as the show’s book writer and producer, respectively. But the show isn’t drawing the kind of numbers NBC would have hoped for, particularly for a show they would have loved to monetize the way Fox has turned Glee into a cash cow, with iTunes sales and a spin-off live show. And it’s not really working creatively, either.

Perhaps the central problem of Smash is that it’s predicated on a rivalry that the show is contorting itself to make plausible. There’s no question that Ivy (Megan Hilty) deserves the lead in the Marilyn musical under development over Karen (Katherine McPhee): she’s a more polished Broadway singer, a more accomplished dancer, she has much more experience on the stage, she’s a physical match for Marilyn, and she’s a more dedicated professional. So how does Smash make it seem like an emotionally engaged contest? By making Ivy a shallow bitch. While we get Karen’s home life with her devoted boyfriend and trips home to her friends and supportive family in Iowa, Ivy gets a single phone call home, where it’s clear that things aren’t all right, but we never get any details. Even though she’s clearly more qualified, we’re told Ivy only really gets the part because she slept with Derek, the director, a convenient drama-driving plot device that also happens to reduce a talented performer. Now that we’re in rehearsals, we see Ivy pushing Karen (now a member of the chorus) to the side, even though she’s not exactly doing her job. It’s contrived and irritating.

Then, there’s the show-within-a-show itself. The characters talk endlessly about Marilyn Monroe without revealing anything particularly interesting about her character. The numbers themselves are charming, but ultimately light—maybe it’s just me, but I’m not particularly moved by a faux Marilyn cooing about manipulating men with her sex appeal. The show tells us, rather than shows us, that these artists are having profound experiences with the material—though it does a nice job of showing us how sexy artists can be to non-artists when they’re in their zones.

And I wonder if that combination of material and setting is what’s preventing Smash from becoming the grown-up version of Glee—and would prevent it from being that show even if everything else was clicking. Glee is a hot mess these days, but it can be genuinely daring and moving when it takes on the subject of gay teenagers. But it does so in a setting where everything else is familiar: this is a small town populated with relatively familiar archetypes, the students attend an essentially typical high school, and they’re singing songs almost everyone in the viewing audience has heard before. The gay characters are a minority in a largely straight world. It’s a show that is sometimes about tolerance, and asking to do that from a very safe space for straight, middle-American viewers.

Smash, on the other hand, is asking viewers to come into a world where women and straight men are dominant, framed by music that’s original rather than familiar. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, per se—shows shouldn’t have to star straight dudes to be successful. But I do think that it might be a sign of NBC’s unwillingness or inability to accept that it’s going to have to make some genuinely popular entertainment to score a smash hit. What makes Glee easy to consume isn’t just the renditions of popular hits—it’s the setting. It’s not actually a natural sege from the cover extravaganza that is The Voice and its quartet of judges who represent the full spectrum of the music business to a show about the making of a Broadway musical.

NBC needs to recognize the difference between the two and decide what kind of entertainment it wants to make. If it’s going to make quirky shows or shows that imply that rivals like Glee aren’t grown-up enough, NBC may be consigning itself to a smaller but wealthier group of viewers who are desirable to advertisers. But if it’s going to make big, mass entertainment that it endeavors to make somewhat smarter than its competitors offerings, it needs to do so without giving the impression that it resents having to do it.