We need to be vigilant about how unconscious tokenism affects the perception of black women in popular media and beyond.
Comedy
Because women have always been funny.
This Comedy Festival Is Charging Women a Different Price for a Great Reason
A Brooklyn-based comedy festival is charging women, people of color, LGBTQ folks and people with disabilities a different price to submit their work than straight, white men. The catch? The “minority” comedians will pay 77 cents to every dollar a straight, white male comedian pays—a reflection of the gender-wage gap. “The 77 cents to the dollar […]
Women Comedians You Should Be Watching This Summer
The season three finale of Inside Amy Schumer aired last week, so we know some of you may feel starved for seriously funny—and feminist—TV. We’re here to help! Enjoy our mix of stand-up comedians, actors and YouTube stars as you wait for Schumer’s triumphant return. Photo of Cameron Esposito courtesy of Flickr user Erin Nekervis, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.
An Open Letter to Jerry Seinfeld
Dear Jerry Seinfeld, I heard you on ESPN radio the other day. You were talking to Colin Cowherd about how you write jokes, where you like to perform and how much you love Colin Cowherd. I have to be honest, Jerry, you two were losing me until Colin broached the subject of political correctness and […]
Our Favorite Funny Women Call Out Sexism in Hollywood
Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, Gina Rodriguez, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ellie Kemper and Kate McKinnon. Imagine all these incredibly talented women comedians in the same room together. Talking about battling misogyny in Hollywood, how to be funny and still be feminist, and why women need to stop starting so many sentences with “sorry.” Now stop imagining because The […]
Can a Rape Joke Ever Be Funny?
In an ideal world, eliminating the material to even be able to make rape jokes—i.e. ending rape—would be the best solution to our culture’s rape-joke problem. But as Ilana Glazer’s character on Broad City quipped during the show’s recent season two premiere, “we live in rape culture…we just do.” The episode, which has garnered both critical backlash and enthused […]
For Amy Poehler, Writing is Hard, Feminism Comes Naturally
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” Well, Amy Poehler makes comedy look easy, but her new memoir, Yes Please, nearly killed her. Or so she says at great length in the preface (aptly titled “Writing is Hard”). Anyone who has ever written anything will relate to her account of the procrastination, […]
Honoring History’s Forgotten Women, One-Too-Many Chardonnays At A Time
There’s something strangely empowering about hearing that Mary Dyer, the 17th century Quaker who dared to challenge the Puritans’ religious intolerance, “freaked their dicks off.” On Comedy Central’s Drunk History, which premiered its second season this month, crass is king as comedians rely on a little liquid courage to help them retell overlooked episodes in […]
Ingrid Jungermann Wants to Kickstart More Lesbian Laughs
What good is laughing? We’re engaged in a tremendous battle for women’s rights; what’s so funny? Laughter is an empowerment tool. A good laugh relaxes and recharges us, makes us feel expansive and alive, fills us up with the world, makes us feel part of the world. I get my laughs from Ingrid Jungermann, a […]
Katie Goodman Says If You’re Homophobic You’re Probably Gay
What’s that, Louis C.K.? Feminists don’t have a sense of humor? Trying telling that to comedian-actress-musician-feminist Katie Goodman. Before there was the women-in-comedy phenom Bridesmaids, there was Goodman, a long-time women’s theater advocate who performs solo and with the show Broad Comedy. Goodman is all kinds of myth-busting. Not only is she a funny feminist, but she’s also […]