Yesterday, Jezebel published a piece criticizing The Daily Show -- and Jon Stewart in particular -- for being sexist. The allegation is based on a few quotes from ex-employees, the paucity of female correspondents, and the fact that the newest female hire, Olivia Munn, has a certain frat-boy appeal.
In response, the women of the show, who make up 40 percent of the staff, released a statement talking about how great it was to work there, how egalitarian the structure was, and how good a boss Stewart is. They wrote: "Jon's rule is: the strongest idea and the funniest joke win every single time, no matter who pitches it -- woman or man, executive producer or production assistant."
Of course, missing in this fight is the idea that both things could be true. It could be true that the show, as is the society at large, is sexist in unconscious and conscious ways, and that can even be true of the women who work there. It's also true that what constitutes the "best" idea is influenced by standards largely determined by men in a male-dominated society.
But what is definitely true is how troubling one of the statements from the show's ex-employees was.
Maybe that discomfort came out of a double standard. Says [Lauren] Weedman, "The irony was that as a woman my comedy came from being kind of insecure, broken, needy, neurotic. And that works in a group of guys if you're a nerdy, insecure guy and you can all just banter away. But if you're a woman, it was harder for me to be that person without some support."
Seriously, I don't know what she's saying here. Is she saying that, because she is a woman, her comedy was needy and neurotic? Is that because she thinks women are needy and neurotic, or because she thinks it's funny to play women that way? All of that is to say that the sexism here could be everywhere.
-- Monica Potts
