Unit One Blog

This week’s readings have been insightful, eye opening, and funny. I am most pleased with having become acquainted with the writings of Tina Fey. I had seen a few of her SNL skits and remember seeing her in the movie “Mean Girls”, but I was ignorant to any of her writing. She is really funny. 

In her essay, “All Girls Must Be Everything”, Fey writes an ironic comedy that seriously critiques the expectations set upon women by society. Her ability to use ironic and witty comments to mock the society in which she lives reminds me a bit of my favorite author, Jane Austen. Prior to this week that is a comparison that I honestly would have never seen myself making.

I really appreciate the way in which she uses comedy to teach real life lessons. For example, her “Rules for Improv” translate into a more opportunistic and positive way of living. And her piece, “I don’t care if you like it,” addresses real life issues like sexism in the work place. These pieces have shown me that she is not just a comedian who wants to make people laugh. She has a purpose and wishes to affect actual social changes through her comic abilities. That is something I definitely admire.

One paragraph of hers that has stuck with me the most come from her work “All Girls Must Be Everything.” Towards the end of this essay, she writes, “I would not trade any of these features for anybody else’s. I wouldn’t trade the small thin-lipped mouth that makes me resemble my nephew. I wouldn’t even trade the acne scar on my right cheek, because that recurring zit spent more time with me in college than any boy ever did.” I love the serious lesson she is teaching, she is telling the reader to love themselves. But that last line about her zit spending more time with her in college than any other boy also really made me crack up. She mixes her comic sense in to make even the most serious of ideas a little more lighthearted, and because of this, I really enjoy her writing. 

Response Paper "Remix"

    Looking at Tina Fey's "Rules of Improv" from her book Bossypants we gain not only a lessons on comedy but a lessons on self betterment through new ideas that Fey presents. 

The "Rules" as Fey puts them can be seen in this video:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmafmRIeet0 

    In which she expands upon how she discovered the rules, as well as he thoughts on them.

She uses her skills in comedy to show the audience and the weirdly serious interviewer (its okay he ends it with a good joke) how to apply the rules to improve their improv.

    While, in the videos she does leave out the deeper real life implications of her rules. I believe it is important to see the used in action as she does here in order to really understand what she means specifically with the first two rules, that being "Agree" and the "Yes And" rules. 

    Now taking these same ideas and applying them into the real world which we can see when “The first rule of improvisation is agree. Always agree and say yes. When you are improvising… Now obviously in real life you're not always going to agree with everything everyone says. But the rule of agreement reminds you to respect what your partner has created and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with yes and see where it takes you.”(84)  While being a simplistic message for the comedy side of the conversation, the real life implications of the point have a much stronger massage. As i’m sure everyone has worked with someone they disagree with, whether that be through a job, school, or so on. What I find so interesting is that Fey proposes that we not disregard their ideas but embrace them into our own thinking as it will only allow for growth as it would be foolish to discard every idea a person disagrees with.

    We should take the lessons Fey uses for improv and apply them to our daily lives as they can only stand to imporve our lives. Not only in our comedy but in our lives as a whole.

The Rules of Improv as a Guide for Changing One's Life

Tina Fey brings up an interesting idea when she says that she looks at the rules of improv as a worldview. While following any sort of rule book for how to live your life may seem too rigid and inflexible, the rules of improv do allow for many interpretations. The simple idea, "Start with a YES and see where that takes you," can actually be quite freeing (Fey, 84). Some people could be, without realizing it, closing themselves off to new opportunities that can be life-changing by simply saying "NO" to these opportunities. Allowing oneself to say "yes" to those opportunities or plans that seem too scary to follow through with is not only freeing, but it's also brave. It is not easy to say yes, but when you do you could find that it can change your life.

For example, I spent 4 years as a housewife and stay-at-home mom. During this time I was absolutely miserable. Partly because I was unhappy without career goals and aspirations that I was actively working toward, partly because I was in a toxic marriage with a man who had an unbearable temper which he took out on me. I'd toyed with the idea of leaving for a year or more before I actually decided to go. Every time I had the idea, I'd always tell myself "No, you couldn't do that. It would be too hard. You'd have to start your life over again." But one day after things had gotten particularly bad between my ex-husband and me I had the urge to leave, and this time, I said "yes!"

Not only did I say yes, but I said to myself, "Yes, and?" Saying, "yes" was the first step which opened the door to the "And?" I knew I would leave, but what would I do once I left? I could have settled for taking any job I could find and playing out the platitudinous trope of a struggling single mother for the rest of my daughter's childhood, but remember, I said "Yes, and..." I decided that simply leaving wasn't enough for me. I said, "Yes, I will leave. Yes, I will start my life over. and I will create a life for myself and my daughter that's better than the life we had with her father." I decided to go back to school. I decided to become a scientist. This decision has changed my life in a multitude of ways for the better and it all started with a yes.

The final rule, "There are no mistakes, only opportunities," is very applicable to life in my opinion. My time with my ex-husband was not a mistake, rather an opportunity. Had I not gone through what I went through with him, it may not have led me to where I am today. I would not have my daughter who was a "beautiful, happy accident" herself (85). Having to start my life over again was an important lesson in not being afraid to fail, and it taught me what Fey embraces as part of her world view: that "there are no mistakes, only happy accidents" (85). For this reason, I do not fear failure and I never compromise my dreams or goals, because even if I make a mistake I know that this will only lead to another opportunity.

Unit One Response

Hello everyone! Regarding the readings assigned for this week, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! I am not very familiar with feminist writing nor with women humor. But I am veer pleased with all that I am learning and taking in from the readings. 

I've decided that with today's blog post, I would like to compare some of readings and what I've learned, to personal experiences in my life. As you might remember from my introduction blog post, I am very close with my family and appreciative of them. However, some of my family can be very "old fashioned" and go along with many of the things mentioned in this week's readings. For example, I was so surprised to read the statement multiple times, "Why can't you take a joke." I have heard this statement so many times throughout my life, from the people who mean the most to me. Most of my family members are big jokesters so I've never taken much offense to that statement. However, after realizing that it wasn't just my family that uses this statement, I realized it has a deeper meaning and offense. 

While I'm sure these family members aren't purposely trying to degrade me, or hurt my feelings, I feel as though it is almost natural for them to make comments as such. It also reflects a lot on how they were raised, how their parents may have acted or behaved, as well as the time period they grew up in.  

I feel as though many other people are this way, as far as not thinking that deep into their comments. I'm not much of a touchy person and always try to understand the reasoning behind some people's beliefs or actions. I can sometimes be a passive person as well, not really up for much confrontation. Although, after reading some of these pieces, and becoming slightly more educated on some of women history, I would like to start sticking up for myself more in regards to some of my family members comments and inform them on the true offense that is taken with some of their statements. Nicely of course. 

Another topic I would like to briefly mention is in regards to one of my classmates blog post. She mentioned a common stereotype of "angry feminists" in today's world.  Agreeing with her outlook, I don't see much success coming from only being angry and attacking others to try to achieve proper respect for women, in fact, it may only make it worse in some cases. I do think it is important to always respect others, even when expressing your opinion. I believe all of the authors in the readings, especially Fey and Grey (more specifically mentioned in her blog post), handled their advocating for women very respectfully and well. 

Overall, I was surprised yet excited to be able to relate to so many of the readings and experiences mentioned. I really enjoyed all of the readings and am excited to become further educated on women and their humor! 

-Cara Minor 

Unit One Response: Connecting to the World

Good morning everyone! Or good-whatever-time-of-day-you're-reading-this.

I definitely enjoyed these readings much more than I expected, not only because of the fluidity in the content, but also because the content was funny, relatable, and got me thinking about much bigger things than just fart jokes: like why don't men like women who make fart jokes? Fey and Gret both discuss this, with little attention to the actual farts and focusing on the jokes.

Fey uses her own experience to show the problem of men attempting to restrain women and keep them within a designated sphere with a flat character, while Grey explains the same thing on a larger scale with examples of other women stars and the common woman rebelling against the harsh protocols placed onto them. Both of them show that comedy is what ties all people together, without gendered borders... or it should be.

It was refreshing to hear a feminist view that wasn't aggressive or overbearing. In the age of the internet, I'm sure we've all seen one or more of the "angry feminists" who only give a bad reputation to those taking a less explosive route.
I think the way they are approaching this is the key to its success. As I said, the classic "angry feminist" is essentially an overly animated version of what they hate the most, others pushing their beliefs and ideas on proper gender behavior onto others. Force and anger rarely solve anything - unless you're a tyrannical emperor, but even then you run the risk of being murdered.

I am in no way saying we do not need women advocating for women, obviously because of my support for our authors for the week, but I do believe, as they have explained and shown, there is a right and a wrong way to go about looking for equality, whether it be humor or general.

Regardless, Fey and Grey definitely take the best route to explain that women can act how they want and the ground won't split and release demons to destroy the earth. If anything, it just means there will be more fart jokes and everyone wins then.

Also in support of our wonderful SNL women, please enjoy these clips of some of my favorite skits.

Period Jokes
Joke Off
Mom Jeans

Chandler's Introduction

1. My name is Chandler Penn and I am a senior here at Shepherd. I grew up only a few miles away in Hagerstown, Maryland. I am the middle child in my family and also happen to be the only one with red hair. I enjoy playing sports, reading, doing things outdoors, and spending time with family/friends.

2. One of the reasons I am taking this class is because it is a requirement for my minor. I am also taking this class in hopes of becoming a better writer. I love to read and I enjoy writing, but I am not the most confident writer, so I hope to gain some practical knowledge in that regard. I tend to be a little wordy, so I hope I will learn how to be a more concise writer.

3. Stories told by my friends or family about a real life experience often make me laugh. I love a good story. Moreover, I am not as intrigued by staged comedy and often laugh the most when having conversations with my friends or family. Some of my favorite funny women include my mom, my girlfriend, and last but not least, Jane Austen. Jane Austen's snarky and witty writing style always gives me a good laugh.

Hi, I'm Alex

  

Hi, my name is Alex Reighard, I grew up and lived in Germantown Maryland my whole life. have two brothers, Nick and Calvin, and live with my Mom and Dad.  Until late last year, I had a dog, Shadow, who we had to put to sleep because of old age and hip issues.  Shadow was a black lab who was actually a police dog, who went to work with my Dad for 12 years.  Shadow was a drug detection canine who did his job very well.  I still miss him very much.  My brother Nick is older and has two kids, Addison and Ace, making me an uncle.  

    Calvin graduated from Shepherd and played football.  Calvin is currently a Graduate Assistant Coach for the football team while he works on his Master’s.

I have a girlfriend Kat.  Kat and I have been friends since high school and have been dating for a little more than a year.  I really enjoy hanging out with Kat and my friends, playing video games and watching movies.

   

    The main reason I am taking this class is because it is a requirement for my minor, obviously.  I do not consider myself a good writer and would like to improve my writing skills in any way I can.  Since this class focuses on comedy, of which I am a huge fan of comedy, I hope that the writing will be somewhat easier since I am interested in the topic.I find a lot of different things funny.  When I am playing with my three-year-old niece and two-year-old nephew, they crack me up. 

Some of the things they say and come up with in their imagination is hilarious.  One of the reasons I enjoy playing video games on-line with my friends is because of the constant teasing and making fun of each other we do during the games.  Nothing hurtful or bullying, just teasing about how the game was played or a certain move they made.  I am usually laughing so hard that my parents will come and tell me to quiet down cause its late.  As far as famous funny women, I enjoy some of the women comedians from Saturday Night Live.  Kristen Wig, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph Rachel Dratch just to name a few.