Minor Character Appreciation Post

[catko]

For a challenge at womenverse, to honor a character that only appears a few times. Ms. Hudson, from Elementary, is played by Candis Cayne, who was just featured in this week's Time Magazine piece on "transgender people who influenced American culture." Here's what Sherlock and Joan say about her--I meant to incorporate these into the cover, but couldn't quite do it. The songs celebrate her strength and her talents, and encourage her to keep being herself!

• Sherlock: Miss Hudson is a fascinating woman. She has an Oxford don's knowledge of ancient Greek, but she's a complete autodidact. Well actually its a very fitting field of study for Ms. Hudson, considering she makes her living as something of a muse.


• Joan: Are we fleeing from the scene of a murder because Miss Hudson and her boyfriend were up half the night yelling at each other?


• Ms. Hudson: He said he wants me back. But…he just wants to stick me in some walk-up, giving me a clothing allowance.


• Ms. Hudson (gesturing around the library): You start with the hard sciences on the north wall, and then you move clockwise around the room in descending order of academic rigor That way, Physics by Aristotle is as far away from You Can Learn Telepathy by Morton Zuckerman as possible...I have a touch of OCD. It seems to flare up after a breakup.


• Watson: I like Ms. Hudson. You know, she's lost. She's just trying to figure herself out…I think it would be good if Ms. Hudson learned to take care of herself, that's all.

 Songs:
—I’m a Woman (Peggy Lee)
—Greek Song (Rufus Wainwright)
—Boy Scout Merit Badge Song
—I Don’t Wanna Fight (Tina Turner)
—Respect (Aretha Franklin)
—Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen)
—So Fresh, So Clean (Outkast)
—Take Good Care of Yourself (The Three Degrees)
—If She Knew What She Wants (The Bangles)
—I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)

And the words to the song from the 50s that I printed on the album. It's dated, sure, but it has something to it that makes me think of her! I actually know if from a perfume ad that perfectly captured the commercial "image" of "feminism" in the 1970s. "I can bring home the bacon/fry it up in a pan/And never ever let you forget you're a man." Hahahaha.

"I'm A Woman" (Lieber and Stoller)

Well I can wash out forty four pairs of socks
And have 'em on the line.
You know I can starch and iron two dozen shirts
'fore you can count from one to nine.
I can slip up a great big dip up of lard
From a drippings can.
Throw it in the skillet, do my shopping,
And be back before it melts in the pan.

'Cause I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.
Let me tell ya again.
I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.

Well I can rub and scrub
'til this house shines just like a dime.
Feed the baby, grease the car,
Powder my nose at the same time.
You know I can get all dressed up,
Go out swinging with the M-A-N,
Jump in bed at five, sleep 'til 6,
And start all over again.

'Cause I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.
Let me tell ya again.
I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.

Well now if you come to me sick,
You know that I'm gonna make you well.
And if you come to me all hexed up,
You know I'm gonna break the spell.
And if you come to me hungry,
You know I'll feed ya full of my grits.
And if it's loving you want,
I can kiss you and give you the shivering fits.

'Cause I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.
I'll say it again.
I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.

Well, I got a twenty dollar gold fee
That says there's nothing that I can't do.
Well, I can make a dress out of feeding sacks,
And I can make a man out Of you.

'Cause I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.
I'll say it again.
I'm a woman...
W-O-M-A-N.

I'm a woman.
I'm a woman.
I'm a woman.
Yeah, I'm a woman.

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