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Kristen Wiig awarded Bro of the Year 2011

23/11/2011

4 Comments

 
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Kristen Wiig, I love you.
After a seemingly rapid rise to success in the comedy world Kristen Wiig has another accolade to add to the list since the success of Bridesmaids. GQ has made Wiig an honourary bro!

Bro of the year? Dude! Congrats man! Major fist pump action.

Only…what does it mean that GQ couldn’t think of a better compliment for a funny woman than to award her some kind of frat-boy status?

Call me crazy but doesn’t GQ like to style itself as kind of classy? The thinking man’s Nuts, if you will. A magazine that often has a man on the cover, looking all suave, doing his best suited and booted Bond impression (you know, looking up as he fastens a button on his suit, or looking up as he straightens his cuff, examples here, here, here and here) (and here)

Fine, yes you can wear suit and still appreciate the idiom of college age guys. It’s not really the choice of epithet for this award I have any problem with. It’s the message awarding it to a woman gives. A woman who has achieved her popularity and recognition by being talented and funny. 

Somehow this recognition dismisses the notion of the funny woman and makes it easier for mankind by applauding a comic heroine whilst still equating funny with masculinity. Everybody wins! NOT.

Awarding Kristen Wiig Bro of the Year is suggestive of a little conflict in the GQ offices. ‘Wiig’s a woman, yes, but she made us laugh. Seems there’s only one way to get round this… Congratulations Wiig! You’re funny, like a man! In acknowledgement of your sense of humour, which we all know few ladies are capable of, we are giving you Bro status! Now, take off your top’.

Yeah, you knew I couldn’t write this without mentioning the accompanying photo-shoot. It’s the lingeried elephant in the room. But are you surprised by GQ’s styling, or let down by Wiig’s decision to go with GQ’s rule of thumb; male on the cover? Suit up a brother, cover with lady? Let’s get shady.

Ok I made that rule of thumb up. But I bet that is what they go by, and I hope it’s delivered in rhyme form.

Kristen Wiig won this prestigious award (joke, sometimes I make jokes) by being talented, funny and fearless. Ms Wiig is a grown woman more than capable of asking not to be photographed in her underwear. Personally I think an opportunity for the first GQ Muu-muu cover has been missed but that’s an entirely different argument.

Just as Sarah Silverman chose to be photographed for Maxim emerging from a gorilla suit in her underwear, Wiig has chosen to pose in semi-clad and pulling faces.

These women are successful enough and (more importantly) old enough to make an informed decision on what to wear for a magazine cover shoot. If we keep on forcing the ‘feminist role model’ label on every intelligent woman who finds fame, then we not only set ourselves up to be disappointed, but in venting our disenchantment we end up dismissing her achievements.

We are missing an opportunity here; we aren’t asking the right questions. Not ‘Why is Wiig in her underwear on Gentleman’s Quarterly?’ The answer’s in the magazine title. But ‘Why is comedy, once again, being presented as a male territory only?’


Squeamish Kate

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4 Comments
crindee
22/11/2011 08:17:08 pm

are we not pretty over the "it's a FUNNY girl! a funny GIRL!" thing yet? i just tried to write a simple sentence about the obvious profileration of evidence on this issue and my hands just kind of withered and slumped. you might as well point out that jim davidson/AIDS is not funny/a good thing to have in your mouth/butt.

unless perhaps she is really manly and bro-like for other reasons? is she?

i'm a bit surprised at sarah silverman getting skimpy and made up for maxim.. maybe she's uncomfortable too, when she's being "hot" she just looks weird.. whereas when she's being "weird" she looks hot

that said, i am not always 100% against the prospect of funny, intelligent, attractive women removing their clothes. in fact if i had a penny for every hour i've invested in the (largely frustrated) pursuit of this end i'd have, like.. a whole load of pennies. but i would not try to stuff them in ladies' underwear in order to induce them to remove clothing and gyrate because it would be pretty insulting on quite a few levels

Reply
Squeamish Kate
22/11/2011 09:57:52 pm

Yeah Sarah Silverman got down to her shorts and vest for Maxim's June 2007 issue. And everyone got way more agitated about that then her 'edgy' use of the N word.

Good luck with the penny collection.

Reply
crindee
24/11/2011 09:29:54 pm

i could probsably have been slightly clearer above that it is ppl who feel the need to point out that a funny person is female who are to varying degrees exasperating (pathetic, strange, archaic, boring, sexist, jus plane stoopit etc.), not the ppl who are still obliged to point out that they are (still) doing it.

just in case my comment wasn't the clearest and cogent piece of prose EVER, which it probably was

Reply
Squeamish Kate
28/11/2011 08:01:08 pm

Fret not Crindee! All is cleared up now.

Also, agreed.

Reply



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