I saw this last night after a night of drinking and was hysterical. Sometimes I get a annoyed with the Daily Show's variety of snark, then they do something like this and my love is completely renewed.
I wonder if this would raise as many issues if Sarkozy's attempt to ban the burqa was framed this way:
"We find that the burqa has been used as a tool by men to control the appearance and expression of women. So to free women from the oppression of the men who mandate that they wear it, we will take the power TO mandate it away from the men and ban it."
@shorty63136: I do research in France on pious Muslim women. Most women who wear burquas do so by "choice" -- I put choice in quotation marks not to say that they don't actually choose, but to underline the ambiguity of the notion of choice itself. We are all shaped by dominant discourses in a patriarchal society, including "choices" like plastic surgery, ankle-breaking high heeled shoes, breast implants, dieting, etc. Many of the dominant discourses about what constitutes women's empowerment are part of structures still controlled by men: the fashion industry and the media, for example.
My point is that just because men have largely interpreted the Quran for centuries doesn't make the burqua somehow not a choice, or an illegitimate one.
And, frankly, to pretend to empower these women by invalidating their religious choices -- many of them thought-out for years -- is about as dis-empowering of women as one can get.
@BinderClip: EXACTLY. This has nothing to do with women's oppression and everything to do with disguising good old fashioned French xenophobia and anti-Islamic sentiment through colonialist/paternalistic pseudo-liberalism. As much as the burqa has become a symbol of women's oppression it has also become a symbol of Islam to the west. Monsieur Sarkozy is using very thinly veiled language (har har har) by saying "the burqa has no place in France."
If you want to get Muslim women out of the burqa and integrated into French society (which they don't, but claim to) set up programs that go into their communities to teach the French (if they don't speak it, which most probably do), job skills, and cultural enrichment rather than push a law that tells them "This culture does not tolerate you and you do not belong."
They reaaaally like eating disgusting things on The Daily Show. There was Steve Carell eating Crisco with an ice cream scooper, and Jon and his pancake covered sausages dipped in baconnaise, and now Kristen joins the club.
I think Schaal did a really fantastic job with this, even if the point she was making was a limited one. I'm just happy when she's on. Last night had Sam Bee, too, which made it an extremely rare ladies night on the Daily Show.
Gosh it was funny, but was it helpful? I feel like the segment could have been better if it really teased the angle of "Sarkozy just wants to see whats under that burqa."
Next it will be the oppression of the pants! the suffocation of the socks! the sacrilegious skirt! Heck! Nudity is the freedom from all clothing expression, and is the symbol of true democracy!
@booboolee: Well, first of all, did it need to be helpful? It is just the Daily Show, after all.
Second, and this may be unpopular, but I can understand the attempt to ban the burqa. I really don't think it (vs just a hijab, which I think is totally compatible with feminism, though I myself would never wear it) is compatible with liberated women. But forcing people to be "liberated" is never going to work out.
Remember when 30 Rock first started and Rachel Dratch was there, and she was cut after a couple of episodes? Wasn't it because people didn't think she was "pretty"? Ugh.
It's always fascinated me that The Daily Show was created by two women, yet it's ended up being such a boy's club. Hardly any women on screen, barely any women behind the scenes.
as an aspiring comedienne, i know for certain that peeps don't expect me to be funny because of my looks. I'm not gorgeous, but I'm a young, decently attractive college aged girl. It's hard because there's only so far I can go when addressing my own presentation. If i try to mock my looks, i'll get eyerolls, but I HAVE to mock myself in other ways so as to not come off as arrogant. Guys never expect me to be funny, and are often surprised when I am.
Most frustrating though, is that if I'm at an open mic, I'm usually the only woman in the crowd, and male comics use me as the subject and/or object of their material. I'm the person they call a bitch or a slut as a stand in for the women they are angry at, or they get on stage and talk about my looks. they imagine out loud what they want to do sexually. It's embarrassing and it's INFURIATING.
@raysanni: But wouldn't a guy who makes half his comedy routine about facking you or bitching about his ex be the perfect intro to a bit about guys who don't even realize how disgusting they are?
@raysanni: It's totally unacceptable for them to put you through that. You're brave for continuing to pursue your goals. Shame on them for resting on their privilege and not putting themselves in your shoes.
@NellMood: Wasn't Rachel Dratch supposed to be a co-star on 30 Rock but was replaced by the more (to some) attractive Jane K? So either Tina Fey is playing the same old game or she doesn't have as much power as we're led to believe
To me the baseline is talent. If Tina Fey's humor was the equivalent of listening to a yogurt culture she wouldn't be famous.
On the other end of the spectrum I think of Victoria Jackson who could be funny, but man it was one note. "I'm a blonde! And I'm dumb! Funny, right?" It's hard to leverage that into a long career. But, I have a feeling that smart, funny women will be around for a long time. If Hollywood says that Tina Few and Amy Poehler aren't attractive enough in a few years...well I doubt that will deter them. They will always find a way, a place and a vehicle for their humor.
@Steve Holt's Mother Part Deux: Yes there's a baseline of talent for female comedians, as there is for male comedians. But women face the attractiveness hurdle whereas men do not. You mention Tina Fey, but she had to lose weight and get a makeover before they would put her on tv. It was a fluke that she even got the Weekend Update gig; it was supposed to be Jimmy Fallon alone. Still, she and Poehler have had to produce their own material, and in a few years they'll really be on their own. Noone's going to go to them with sitcom and movie offers like they do for guys like Kevin James and Jim Belushi.
I love SNL and the ladies who have graced that studio, but really no love for the talented ladies of MadTV? It seems that these funny lady articles only ever mention SNL.
Debra Wilson, Alex Borstein, Stephanie Weir, and Nichole Sullivan!? AMAZING.
Debra's Oprah alone is outstanding, and Alex stole my heart.
@Rilo-Andy: MadTV is sooo much better than SNL, which has become unwatchably awful since the departure of Fey and Poehler. I wish we got a liveblog thread for MadTV on Jez.
It such a ridiculous stereotype that a woman's sense of humor and looks are connected. You can be beautiful and hilarious. You can not give an eff, be comfortable as the 'less attractive sidekick' and be hilarious Kristen Wiig- amazing. Drew Barrymore- great. Jezebel's Tracie- too funny (sorry,she's the only one I've seen).
@kysm: If you believe some people, a woman's everything and her looks are connected. One of my greater pleasures in life is knowing that in spite of my manifest averageness of appearance, I already have somehow obtained all of the things that you're supposed to be attractive to deserve: higher education, a husband who actually wants to have a lot of sex with me, a job I love, a sense of humor, overwhelming modesty...
07/02/09
07/02/09
It kind of creeped me out. :(
07/02/09
"We find that the burqa has been used as a tool by men to control the appearance and expression of women. So to free women from the oppression of the men who mandate that they wear it, we will take the power TO mandate it away from the men and ban it."
07/02/09
07/02/09
My point is that just because men have largely interpreted the Quran for centuries doesn't make the burqua somehow not a choice, or an illegitimate one.
And, frankly, to pretend to empower these women by invalidating their religious choices -- many of them thought-out for years -- is about as dis-empowering of women as one can get.
07/02/09
If you want to get Muslim women out of the burqa and integrated into French society (which they don't, but claim to) set up programs that go into their communities to teach the French (if they don't speak it, which most probably do), job skills, and cultural enrichment rather than push a law that tells them "This culture does not tolerate you and you do not belong."
07/02/09
I think Schaal did a really fantastic job with this, even if the point she was making was a limited one. I'm just happy when she's on. Last night had Sam Bee, too, which made it an extremely rare ladies night on the Daily Show.
07/02/09
Baconnaise, now - that's another story.
07/02/09
Next it will be the oppression of the pants! the suffocation of the socks! the sacrilegious skirt! Heck! Nudity is the freedom from all clothing expression, and is the symbol of true democracy!
07/02/09
Second, and this may be unpopular, but I can understand the attempt to ban the burqa. I really don't think it (vs just a hijab, which I think is totally compatible with feminism, though I myself would never wear it) is compatible with liberated women. But forcing people to be "liberated" is never going to work out.
07/02/09
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07/02/09
07/02/09
03/15/09
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03/14/09
Most frustrating though, is that if I'm at an open mic, I'm usually the only woman in the crowd, and male comics use me as the subject and/or object of their material. I'm the person they call a bitch or a slut as a stand in for the women they are angry at, or they get on stage and talk about my looks. they imagine out loud what they want to do sexually. It's embarrassing and it's INFURIATING.
03/14/09
03/15/09
03/14/09
03/14/09
03/15/09
03/15/09
03/14/09
On the other end of the spectrum I think of Victoria Jackson who could be funny, but man it was one note. "I'm a blonde! And I'm dumb! Funny, right?" It's hard to leverage that into a long career. But, I have a feeling that smart, funny women will be around for a long time. If Hollywood says that Tina Few and Amy Poehler aren't attractive enough in a few years...well I doubt that will deter them. They will always find a way, a place and a vehicle for their humor.
03/14/09
03/14/09
Debra Wilson, Alex Borstein, Stephanie Weir, and Nichole Sullivan!? AMAZING.
Debra's Oprah alone is outstanding, and Alex stole my heart.
03/14/09
03/14/09
03/14/09
03/14/09
03/14/09
When her and Debra play the Nuyorican chicks...totally remind me of girls I knew in NYC.
SO funny. Hope the link works...
03/14/09
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03/14/09