Sexy Women and Comedy

Wading into the conversation about last week's 30 Rock and the convoluted relationship of feminism to women's humor, I want to first send kudos to Salon's Rebecca Traister and Women and Hollywood's guest blog by Emilie Spiegel.  You should know that my opinions come from my experiences performing in a Seattle late-night cabaret as a "babe"  - baby-voiced, blonde, and completely self-absorbed.  (Watch an old video of me in Freud & Box Envy on YouTube if you care to see where I'm coming from.)

Comedy with cleavage plays on the power of sex.  A gal who uses that power without admitting that she's doing it risks pissing other women off.  You can get the guys with testosterone poisoning to swear they love you for your brains, but don't expect me to buy the lie.  I don't mind if Babycakes gets what she wants by dumbing down or dressing up.  I mind if she turns to me with those same wide eyes and innocently demands I accept her status as coming from her brains, artistry, or great personality. 



There's a difference between sexy girls delivering jokes and dead-on comic timing by someone sexy. Gracie Allen could make you laugh with "Oh."  This is not generally accepted today, and while in the past we had a host of not-so-very attractive female comics, they are virtually absent today.

And we are all the poorer for it.  It's great that Tina Fey has the status to give us her take on women and comedy.  We should not have to all hang our hats or handbags on one person.  She cannot embody the spectrum of women's comic version of life in our times.  She becomes a lightning rod for everything, and that's unfair to both her and to us.