Liberal women want to love Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, but that love is not returned. After Jezebel wrote a post about the difficulties that female staffers encountered working at the Daily Show, feminists were angry at Stewart. Unfortunately, nothing changed at the testosterone fueled Daily Show. Despite producing great work, female correspondents have seen very little air time since that blog post.
Stewart's recent eloquent defense of a woman's right to control their reproductive health has caused some feminists to fall in love with him again. While I thank him for pointing out the obvious about birth control and abortion, I want to ask him why he has so few women guests on the show.
In 2010, the Daily Show had 131 male guests and only 35 female guests. In 2011, it was even worse. 138 men were invited on the show while 32 women appeared. That works out to a ratio of men to women guests of 4.3:1. In fairness, 2012 has been much better. There have been 20 male guests and 9 female guests, but the year is still young.
Feminists should demand that Stewart invite more female guests. Many people get their news from the Daily Show. If they do not see women on the show, they will think that they do not count.
Showing posts with label Jon Stewart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jon Stewart. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The Daily Show Asks if 2 Parties are Enough
In a hilarious web exclusive, the Daily Show team compares our current political party offerings to the empty shelves of an East German grocery store. Do you want to eat the state branded food or nothing?
Colin Quinn made the same point in "Long Story Short". He noted that "America has one more candidate running for President than the Fascists did under Mussolini.
Maybe, it is time for a third party that can give the other parties a run for their money.
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Colin Quinn made the same point in "Long Story Short". He noted that "America has one more candidate running for President than the Fascists did under Mussolini.
Maybe, it is time for a third party that can give the other parties a run for their money.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Has Gawker's Blog Jezebel Lost its Feminist Way?
When the head of the Gawker media empire, the genius Nick Denton, announced that he was creating a blog for women at Jezebel.com, I was excited. Jezebel promised an irreverent look at woman's magazines and serious advocacy of feminist issues. At the time, most women's magazines wrote about a world where everyone is skinny, on a diet, having multiple orgasms, and wearing $500 Louboutin stilettos.
In the beginning, Jezebel delivered. They poked fun at women's magazines, campaigned against air brushing in ads, and took on Jon Stewart for not hiring women staffers.
Lately, they have fallen down on the job. Exhibit A in my argument is that there are 994 entries on the blog for Kim Kardashian. Yet, there are only 3 entries for the entire slutwalk movement, which is fast becoming the focal point of the third wave of feminism all across the globe. The slutwalk revolution started when a Toronto cop suggested the best way to avoid rape was not to dress like a slut.
Jezebel's lack of comment on the movement is particularly disappointing because slutwalk seemed tailor made for Jezebel.com. Most of the participants in the movement are twenty something, the average age of their readership. Some older feminists have not embraced the movement because they do not approve of the use of the word slut.
Jezebel should have been leading the movement not ignoring it. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which can hardly be classified as a feminist rag, wrote 7 stories or blog posts about the local protest.
The slutwalk is not the only example of Jezebel editor in chief Jessica Coen dropping the ball. Lately, Jezebel has been posting articles like "How to do a 30s Style Moon Manicure" or Was Pippa Middleton's Butt Padded? Instead, they should have been loudly cheering DHS' decision to provide free birth control without a co-pay to woman and booing the detractors of the decision. It is a big deal that women, who typically make less than men, no longer have the fiscal responsibility for preventing pregnancy.
Jezebel should have been at their snarky best belittling Fox commentator Dana Perino for her recent remarks about the decision. Perino gave them a free lay up to sarcasm. She said, "If you can afford a $5 Frappucino at Starbucks, you can pay your $5 co-pay.” Glossing over the Frappuccino part, her comments were simply accurate. Co-pays for birth control are not typically $5. They can run as high as $70.
They should have gone into defcon mode to attack Bill O'Reilly for saying "Many women who get pregnant are blasted out of their minds when they have sex, they’re not going to use birth control anyways.” Someone needs to explain the birds and bees to O'Reilly because it is clear by these words that he does not understand how birth control works. If a woman is on the pill, IUD, etc, it would not matter if she was drunk because the protection is 24/7.
Jezebel was completely silent during the free birth control debate. Interestingly enough, it was Jon Stewart, previously attacked by Jezebel, who pointed out the absurdity of their remarks. Who really is the feminist?
In the beginning, Jezebel delivered. They poked fun at women's magazines, campaigned against air brushing in ads, and took on Jon Stewart for not hiring women staffers.
Lately, they have fallen down on the job. Exhibit A in my argument is that there are 994 entries on the blog for Kim Kardashian. Yet, there are only 3 entries for the entire slutwalk movement, which is fast becoming the focal point of the third wave of feminism all across the globe. The slutwalk revolution started when a Toronto cop suggested the best way to avoid rape was not to dress like a slut.
Jezebel's lack of comment on the movement is particularly disappointing because slutwalk seemed tailor made for Jezebel.com. Most of the participants in the movement are twenty something, the average age of their readership. Some older feminists have not embraced the movement because they do not approve of the use of the word slut.
Jezebel should have been leading the movement not ignoring it. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which can hardly be classified as a feminist rag, wrote 7 stories or blog posts about the local protest.
The slutwalk is not the only example of Jezebel editor in chief Jessica Coen dropping the ball. Lately, Jezebel has been posting articles like "How to do a 30s Style Moon Manicure" or Was Pippa Middleton's Butt Padded? Instead, they should have been loudly cheering DHS' decision to provide free birth control without a co-pay to woman and booing the detractors of the decision. It is a big deal that women, who typically make less than men, no longer have the fiscal responsibility for preventing pregnancy.
Jezebel should have been at their snarky best belittling Fox commentator Dana Perino for her recent remarks about the decision. Perino gave them a free lay up to sarcasm. She said, "If you can afford a $5 Frappucino at Starbucks, you can pay your $5 co-pay.” Glossing over the Frappuccino part, her comments were simply accurate. Co-pays for birth control are not typically $5. They can run as high as $70.
They should have gone into defcon mode to attack Bill O'Reilly for saying "Many women who get pregnant are blasted out of their minds when they have sex, they’re not going to use birth control anyways.” Someone needs to explain the birds and bees to O'Reilly because it is clear by these words that he does not understand how birth control works. If a woman is on the pill, IUD, etc, it would not matter if she was drunk because the protection is 24/7.
Jezebel was completely silent during the free birth control debate. Interestingly enough, it was Jon Stewart, previously attacked by Jezebel, who pointed out the absurdity of their remarks. Who really is the feminist?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Daily Show Co Creator: Media Derelict
I had a chance to chat with Lizz Winstead, the co creator of the "Daily Show," while she is touring the country in her car in support of Planned Parenthood.
Winstead, who recruited Steven Colbert to the Daily Show, has mixed emotions about the “Daily Show” being the primary source of news for many. “It shows that the news media is derelict,” she noted. “They are easily distracted by Casey Anthony or Anthony Weiner instead of pursuing subjects of substance.”
She urges “viewers to do their own investigation of the news.”
Winstead, who recruited Steven Colbert to the Daily Show, has mixed emotions about the “Daily Show” being the primary source of news for many. “It shows that the news media is derelict,” she noted. “They are easily distracted by Casey Anthony or Anthony Weiner instead of pursuing subjects of substance.”
She urges “viewers to do their own investigation of the news.”
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