"Sneak-Attack Feminism"

"Up until now there have only been a few ways in which women were 'allowed to be funny' on mainstream television. For the last decade or so, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have blazed the trail for female comedians. Though Liz Lemon and Leslie Knope are two very different characters in many ways—Liz is mildly depressed, sexually repressed and a general mess (see: night cheese), while Leslie is optimistic to a fault, makes PowerPoint presentations about her husband’s butt and prides herself on her organized binders—they also share some key characteristics. Both are work obsessed, a little neurotic and tend to quote feminist platitudes. Their ambition and womanly pride are played for jokes: Liz’s feminist sketches were laughed out of the writers’ room on TGS—sketches that could make it on to Schumer’s show now.
"Inside Amy Schumer and Broad City are shows in which the main characters subvert this neurotic female archetype. Broad City’s Abbi and Ilana are stoner screw-ups, and Amy Schumer usually plays a ditzy, promiscuous, insecure version of herself on the show. Liz and Leslie represent what hard-working women were striving towards. Abbi, Ilana and Amy don’t have to meet such high standard for themselves (or all womanhood). They just are who they are."


Eliana Dockterman at Time discusses the two best shows on Comedy Central.