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Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in a clip from the upcoming Season 7 of "Portlandia," as characters wondering "What About Men?" and dudes' rights.

(IFC)

"Portlandia" Season 7 won't premiere until Jan. 5, 2017, but the show has already been generating news. First came a dismissive announcement by In Other Words, the Portland feminist community center, event space and bookstore that's been by the location for "Portlandia" feminist bookstore sketches.

"Several months ago the In Other Words community agreed to discontinue our relationship with 'Portlandia,'" the post on the In Other Words website reads. "This was a direct response to a particular egregious filming of the show in our space which saw our store left a mess, our staff mistreated, our neighbors forced to close and lose business for a day without warning, and our repeated attempts to obtain accountability or resolution dismissed. It was also a direct response to a show which is in every way diametrically opposed to our politics and the vision of society we're organizing to realize. A show which has had a net negative effect on our neighborhood and the city of Portland as a whole."

Among the reasons mentioned for no longer making In Other Words available as a location for the "Portlandia" feminist bookstore sketches, featuring Fred Armisen (in a wig) and Carrie Brownstein as the female proprietors of the space, was that "Portlandia" exposure hasn't made any money for In Other Words.

And this:

"The Women and Women First segments that are filmed at In Other Words are trans-antagonistic and trans-misogynist and have only become more offensive as the show goes on. 'LOL Fred Armisen in a wig and a dress' is a deeply (expletive deleted) joke whose sole punchline throws trans femmes under the bus by holding up their gender presentation for mockery and ridicule. In a world where trans femmes - particularly Black trans women - are being brutalized and murdered on a regular basis for simply daring to exist, dude in a dress jokes are lazy, reactionary, and actively harmful. They're also just straight up not funny."

We don't yet know how all this may show up in the new season of "Portlandia," but IFC just released the first clip of Season 7. In it, Armisen and Brownstein (who's dressed as a man) are riding bikes, and pass the real In Other Words, which has the show's Women & Women First sign on it.

As the characters Armisen and Brownstein play ride bikes past Women & Women First, they launch into complaints about how everybody is talking about feminism, Black Lives Matter, transgender rights and so on, but nobody's talking about the plight of men.

Cutting back and forth between a music video featuring Armisen and Brownstein singing a song called "What About Men?" and the conversation during the bike ride, the sketch features the characters wishing there were "safe spaces" for men. "My safe space is Reddit," Brownstein's character says.

By the end of the sketch, we've heard the dudes asking why nobody holds the door for them, and so on. In "Hamilton" style costumes, Armisen's character suggests they draft a Constitution, and Brownstein's character agrees.

"But let's do it this time in a way that really favors men," Brownstein's character says.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist