Feminism In Tina Fey's 'Bossypants'

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Move over, Madonna: feminism has a new poster girl, and her name is Tina Fey! As tales of so called “feminazis” dominate the media, Fey reminds her audience that rationality is never too far away with her novel Bossypants. Throughout the text, Fey describes obstacles against femininity in her life; readers learn of her struggles grasping womanhood, the subtle sexism on the Chicago comedy circuit, and the struggles with her foray into television via Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. Unlike most celebrities’ tales, Fey’s is not that of fame and glamour; she intersperses her thoughts on standards of beauty, dieting, and the all-too-frequently asked question of having children. Where Madonna focused on individuality and style, Fey focuses on the daily struggle of simply being a woman. It seems that feminism no longer requires a shining beacon of feminine glory to rally around; as Fey will soon prove, the struggle is no longer for unity, but equality. …show more content…

As she describes in Bossypants, Fey realized from a young age that a woman was not defined as such by herself, but rather the men around her. Fey synthesizes what she learned from a feminist conference best: “There were pretty much zero examples [of realizing womanhood] like ‘I first knew I was a woman when my mother and father took me out to dinner to celebrate my success on the debate team.’ It was mostly men yelling shit from cars” (Fey 16). Fey’s anger stems from the fact that, for most women, the transition from girl to woman was determined not by herself but by random mens’ catcalling. She realizes that society has given the patriarchy this dominion over female lives, but fails to capitalize on this injustice the very second she learns about it. What might the other approach look

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