A month ago Nicole helped us confirm our love for Tina Fey - (“Be still my beating heart.”) We’ve also found that feminism can come from some unexpected sources, including Playboy. Well now, Tina Fey talks to Playboy. According to AfterEllen.com, “Talk she did, and hold back she didn’t.”
In an interview in the January issue Fey states (among a variety of other things) that “Paris (Hilton) is a terrible role model and a terrible young woman. She needs to be ignored. I work with people who have 12-, 13-, 14-year-old girls who are fascinated by her. They look up to her, and that’s not great.”
Playboy goes on to name Fey the “Goddess of Geeks.”
I know the world is not black and white, divided into “feminist” and “not-feminist” camps, but I am curious to find out what a) readers think of Fey being interviewed by Playboy and b) her criticizing other women during the interview (she also goes on to slam Paula Abdul.) Me? I’m still undecided.
AfterEllen.com continues:
While the Paula and Paris disses may be attracting the most attention, it’s her tough talk on body image that had me smiling - “When I was growing up, to have a good body you actually had to have a good body. You know what I mean? You had your shape, and whatever your God-given shape was, that was your shape. But now — and this is what these young Hollywood ladies seem to do — even if you don’t have a great body, you can lose a lot of weight and get super skinny, get a fake tan and fake t-ts, and you’re in the game. Just get super-duper skinny… for some of these … chicks, the closest they can get to a body like that is to remove everything that’s there and add a little something on top. It’s like the ladies you see in Playboy.”
That’s right, she critiques Playboy in a Playboy interview.
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14 comments
i'm confused, as feminists are women no allowed to critcize other women?
are all women great because they are women? that actually sounds like sexism to me while also degrading the intelligence of the female population. we do not need to be protected from any criticism and not everything we do or say is smart/good/benefitial.
i have meet some really stupid and disgusting women. that doesn't make my world crumble into little pieces. we are not all wonderful. however, we are deserve the same rights, freedoms and respect as people.
Posted by mimmi
December 14, 2007, 11:42 AM
You're totally right Mimi and I do agree with you, but I was referring more to the kinds of things Fey said in the interview and not to criticism of other women in general. (Although admittedly, that wasn't clear.)
She has said things (both in the interview and referred to in the interview) that are more insult than critique. I actually didn't include them in the post because they are kind of hateful - as in calling another woman a “piece of s---.”
Posted by Stacey May
December 14, 2007, 12:06 PM
Not to be all "I blame the media", but I wonder to what extent women are set up to get into catfights and backbiting contests. I know if an interviewer asked me what I thought of Paris Hilton I probably wouldn't have anything too generous to say either, but, as AfterEllen points out, it's the dissing that gets the most attention.
Posted by Anna
December 14, 2007, 3:23 PM
...I mean, I wonder if the interviewer asked her which women she really admires. Probably not, because that's not how most journalism works, and it's not the kind of conversation that will sell issues of Playboy (and goodness knows we all buy Playboy for the articles, right?). Yeesh. Someone should write a book on how women are set up to bash each other. Oh, wait, someone already did (hi Thea!).
Posted by Anna
December 14, 2007, 4:39 PM
i take you point stacey, the name calling is does end up reinforcing stereotypes. which usually leads to others feeling that that sort of language/attitude is acceptable.
but god isn't tiring sometimes?
Posted by mimmi
December 14, 2007, 5:43 PM
I'm the Playboy writer who interviewed Tina, and for what it's worth, I'm fascinated by the commentary on this blog and amazed that it's sparked so much discussion.
I happen to agree with Anna. The media does crave catfights, and anybody who read the interview knows that the "Tina vs. Paula Abdul and Paris Hilton and Playboy in General" pissing match, as it was portrayed by the tabloids and "Page Six," has little or nothing to do with reality. I know that Tina feels the same way, as she emailed me shortly after the clusterfuck of media coverage and expressed shock that her random quotes, taken completely out of context, made her sound like an asshole.
Coincidentally, Anna, you're entirely correct that I failed to ask Tina about her influences. Thank you for catching me on something that should've been obvious. But that said, we did discuss feminism at some length, and not all of it made it into the final piece. I'm not sure if this will be of any interest, or offer any insight whatsoever, but here's a quote that was cut from the published interview:
"I remember going back to Chicago and watching an improv show and there were all these girls on stage, doing their improv without wearing bras, and I just wanted to say to them, 'Guess what? Nobody heard anything you said. You need to wear a fucking bra!' But at the same time, I find myself falling into that trap, too. I mean, I wouldn't do anything I felt weird about. But, I did this photo shoot for Bust, which is sort of a feminist hipster magazine. We did these really fun, old-timey cheesecake photos. I remember shooting with them and it was in their grungy little office, and I was like, 'Okay, we're all feminists here and we're all into our bodies and being natural and everything, but you're gonna fix my shit up in Photoshop, right?' And they're like, 'Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it, we'll take care of it.'"
I'm not sure if that adds anything to the conversation, but I found it compelling. Apparently Playboy isn't the only magazine representing women in a less than honest way.
Speaking only for myself and not for the Playboy organization, thanks for keeping me on my toes.
Posted by Eric Spitznagel
December 15, 2007, 6:43 PM
Hey Eric, thanks for commenting! I think this is the first Shameless/Playboy convo in history.
Having been on both sides of the interviewer/interviewee equation, I know how hard it is to (a) come across the way you want to without sounding like a robot and (b) represent someone accurately and honestly, within the constrains of print media and the magazine industry. Those constraints *are* incredibly frustrating, as a reader, a writer, and an occasional victim of "there's no way in HELL I said that". But just the fact that you're bothering to follow the repercussions of your article and do some explaining on a feminist blog gives me hope.
And thanks for the dirt on BUST - food for thought, for sure.
Posted by Anna
December 17, 2007, 2:01 PM
How exciting to get some exclusive content on our website, ooo la la! Here's a question that is unrelated to this topic but related to Tina Fey - I started watching 30 Rock after Nicole talked about how much she liked it. Maybe I just happened to hit a few bad episodes in a row, but I was dismayed to see that each episode I watched (I think I saw 3) had a storyline, scene or dialogue that I found racist.
The one that sticks in my memory the most is where Fey thinks her Muslim neighbour is a terrorist because he's Muslim, when it turns out that he's just training for the Amazing Race. I understand that the joke is supposed to be that Fey is racist, (and boy does that have some whacky consequences!) not that Muslims are all terrorists. But I felt it came across as more of a "Wow, I'm sooo not racist that I can make racist jokes" thing, and honestly as a white, super privileged woman, I don't think it's up to Fey to say whether or not she's racist.
Does anybody else have thoughts on 30 Rock's race politics? I was pretty sad to find so many instances racist-y-ness because I was all set to adore the show.
Posted by Thea
December 17, 2007, 8:04 PM
firstly, tina fey isn't tina fey on 30 rock. she is acting, playing a charecter - although they may be similiar tina fey is a separate person from the character she plays and writes.
i get your point about the racism. i don't think it's funny - i think it attempting to make fun of the racism in american culture, i also think that they (creators, writers, producers) were trying to point out how ridiculous the "report anything suspicious" messages are.
for me the racist can be found in what is a mostly white cast, although is a still more diverse that most other tv programming.
Posted by peabody
December 18, 2007, 1:05 AM
The idea that women should never criticise other women, apart from being stupid, merely accentuates the Smurfette Principle - the idea that all women should (or can) have the same morals values and personality.
You see the Smurfette Principle all the time - Liz Lemon is *meant* to be an "unsympathetic comedy protagonist" but she is attacked by a lot of people for not being the "positive role model" that many people seem to think all women on tv and film should be. If you look at "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "According to Jim", you see the double standard - apparently it's ok for *boys* not to "need" role models.
Posted by Michelle
December 18, 2007, 8:09 PM
I believe 30Rock is a Lorne Michael's show, (Saturday Night Live)
Ever see Eddie Murphy on SNL? Think about it!
Comedy shows and tabloid press thrive on hyperbole, you need to see the grain of truth beneath the haystack, and not get wrapped up in the hay.
Tina does a good job of portraying a decent person in an impossible position, and over the years Playboy has always redeemed itself by including food for thought along with the eye candy.
To hell with role models, find your own path!
Posted by Mike M
December 20, 2007, 10:57 AM
30 Rock is A Tina Fey show, not a Lorne Michaels show.
Posted by BTW
December 20, 2007, 11:56 AM
Actress Tina Fey (L) and producer Lorne Michaels (C) pose with the Emmy awards they won for Outstanding Comedy Series for "30 Rock" next to series co-star Alec Baldwin (R) at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California September 16, 2007. REUTERS
Maybe I misread?
Posted by Mike M
December 20, 2007, 1:21 PM
He's the EP. She's the Writer and Creator. I would say its her show, not his?
But I suppose it depends on how you look at it.
Posted by BTW
December 20, 2007, 1:26 PM
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