For its June 5 magazine issue, The Hollywood Reporter features a story on “Six of TV’s most provocative female comedians” that discussed everything from sexism, sex scenes, and pay equality.
With the likes of HBO star Lena Dunham and Comedy Central star Amy Schumer being two of the six comedians, it’s a safe bet to say the story would be a raunchy one. They didn’t disappoint.
When asked if there was anything they wouldn’t do for a laugh, Dunham was quick to offer up “I would never f*** someone.” That was only the second question of the interview.
On the topic of sex scenes, Dunham confidently declared, “I stopped wearing the nude patch after the first season of Girls…There’s not one guy who works on that show who hasn’t seen the inside of my vagina. This patch – you glue it over your vagina. It gets sweaty and always falls off. My male co-stars, at the end of the day, don’t care.”
THR’s roundtable discussion also Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) and Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish).
Asked their opinions on racism and sexism in Hollywood, each offered up something different.
Rodriguez didn’t believe “it’s an issue of hard-core racism," and Schumer said it was more “ignorance” than racism or sexism.
Dunham said “I’d been thinking so much about representing weirdo, chubby girls and strange half-Jews that I had forgotten that there was an entire world of women being underserved.” I’m sure if anyone else had “forgotten” there was an entire world of women being underserved, the media would’ve had a field day or calls to boycott the show.
Asked about the pay disparity between male and female executives, Dunham told the story of when Sheryl Sandberg (author and COO of Facebook) asked Dunham if she knew what she made compared to men who run and HBO show. She said, “Why would I ever ask about that? I can pay for dog food, and I have an apartment…I hear my boyfriend on the phone all the time saying, “I’m worth more than that.” I don’t have that skill.” That sounds more like a confidence issue than a pay equality issue.
Dunham also went off on why there are no women in late-night television, even stating that it “bums me out that someone like Kathy Griffin was relegated to Fashion Police.”
Schumer interjected that it’s because, “people hate women…I don’t think they want to hear a woman talk for too long… A lot of people project their mom yelling at them…I’m not saying all men hate women, but there’s such an aggression.”
Dunham backed her up and pointed to the vicious commentary that awaits vocal women on platforms like Twitter and Instagram. "The way women are spoken to in social media is truly shocking," she said. "It's how you imagine people screaming at prisoners in Guantanamo."
What’s shocking is that Dunham and her fellow “A-List Female Comedians” talk with the same vulgarity they claim is being used towards women on social media. Also, if we are talking about regular late-night show television, what host uses raunchy humor to captivate an audience? They don’t need to because they can be funny without it.
Not only that, but there are many female comedians that have made names for themselves – even hosting shows, albeit during the daytime. Ellen DeGeneres is one example, even Rosie O’Donnell (before she became a self-loathing vile voice on The View.) Dunham previously mention Kathy Griffin being “relegated” to Fashion Police. Of course she was – she’s a loose cannon that can’t even be on CNN without causing controversy. It only makes sense that no one would take a chance on these types of comedians. They aren’t family friendly nor do they fit the audience networks try to accommodate. It’s not about gender or sexism – it’s about decency.
