Sexist (and Racist) Guest Line-up on Daily Show and Stephen Colbert
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Posted by Lucinda Marshall August 15th, 2007 |
I love Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, but the other day when searching for something on the Daily Show’s website, I started searching through the interview videos that are posted on the website which confirmed something that I’ve known but haven’t wanted to confront–both Stewart and Colbert have an abysmal record when it comes to interviewing women. While
Stephen Colbert has made a conscious effort to bring feminists on his show (Jessica Valenti and Gloria Steinem for starts), the total number of women on his show is still unacceptably low (9 out of the first hundred listings).
Jon Stewart’s numbers were even worse–6 out of the first hundred listings and 4 of those were actresses. And big surprise–the lineup on both shows was also glaringly white.
Leafing through the index of interviews on both sites leaves little doubt that while we may bemoan the lack of women on Sunday morning talk shows, on Op Ed pages, etc. the alternative/liberal media leaves quite a lot to be desired as well. Check out these indexes, and then write to Comedy Central and let them know this isn’t funny.
August 16th, 2007 13:54
It should also be pointed out that the ‘Daily Show’ currently has only one female correspondent-Samantha Bee. When writing to Comedy Central, also suggest that the next time they hire a new correspondent, hire another female.
As much as I love ‘Daily Show/Colbert Report,’ I have to wonder what the ‘Daily Show’s’ creators-females comedian Lizz Winstead and producer Madeline Smithberg-feel about the “boys clubs” that run the shows these days.
For a liberal/progressive show, women are disturbingly lacking.
August 16th, 2007 20:55
Lucinda, I’m so happy you posted this. I’ve had this conversation I can’t tell you how many times. What we need to remember is that these two shows are not news outlets, they are comedy shows. And comedy has long been among the strongest of the boys clubs, in which male comedians and comedy club owners (and dumbass conservative columnists) still feel totally OK saying that women categorically aren’t as funny as men (or at all: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/01/hitchens200701) despite so, so much proof to the contrary.
Yet The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are more than comedy shows — intentionally — they are media criticism shows at their core. They are not news programs, though they are often informational; they are in their own description media criticism shows that hold a mirror up to the failures of contemporary corporate journalism. In critiquing and satirizing media outlets, journalists and the politicians they cover, these two programs would do well to hold that same mirror up to their own guest lists.
August 17th, 2007 17:45
The year I saw John Stewart get his Emmy, he walked up with all the boys (writers, producers, etc.), all white. His comment was, “They said our show would never go anyplace with 75% Jews writing for it, but I said, well, maybe 85% would be better. . .” But he totally ignored the gender and race issues (the ones that leapt out at me). He’s got a white, educated, mostly east-coast oriented program, but his politics are good and he’s smart and courageous within that narrow framework. I don’t like Colbert much and rarely watch it - his personality is off-putting to me, but it’s my taste, no commentary on his content.
August 19th, 2007 13:35
For better or worse I think both shows tend to pull from their pool of friends and people they know through friends. Somehow we tend to end up in pools of people of our own race. I don’t do it on purpose, but most of my friends are white with a couple Latinos and Jews. That’s not because I’m racist, it’s just the community I’m in somehow.
The same is probably true for Stewart and Colbert. I don’t think that makes them racist either. As has already been pointed out too, comedy for some reason is still very much a boys club, and that’s Stewart’s pool. So of course there are going to be a higher percentage of men.
Additionally, they are parodying network news. And in that, they’re parodying pretty accurately.
I dunno, I mean I do think y’all make a good point, they could do better in these areas. But I wouldn’t go so far as to call them sexist or racist at ALL.
August 21st, 2007 13:43
I just figured out the same thing the other day! I like both the shows but I went online to see if it was just my imagination that both were had many many more men on than women, and it turned out it was even worse than I thought. Disappointing, coming from them.
I understand that comedy is dominated by men, but I looked at the authors that have been on the Daily Show - 0 female authors this year, 6 last year, according to the Show’s website. 99 male authors in those two years. Come on. They could find some good books written by women if they tried. Something’s not right.
August 22nd, 2007 18:33
Their fan base is just not as diverse as we hope they would be. Any fan of a show that does not have people of varied races and ethnicities as guests or a balance of the genders, (where warranted)is probably closed minded and has a limited intellect. The fact that the shows are popular says more about how morally deficient our society is than it says about how sexist and racist the producers of the shows are. They know that there is an audience for the crap they sell and they pander to it.
August 22nd, 2007 18:42
It’s interesting to see that a number of commenters responded to Lucinda’s post by saying that the producers are — or are not — sexist and racist.
Lucinda’s post did not discuss whether the producers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are sexist and/or racist. What she did was look statistically at the guest line up on both of those shows, and demonstrate a systemic, statistically significant underrepresentation of women and people of color as guests on these programs.
What this points to is *institutional* discrimination on the part of media outlets as a general practice. It does not say one thing or another about the personal beliefs of intent of producers. What is important to note is that even with the best of intentions, producers of these programs will end up replicating the same institutional biases present in the media outlets they satirize, so long as they do not make reversing these biases an active priority.
August 23rd, 2007 07:44
Actually, I think by implication the producers are racist and sexist. I’m assuming that they are bright, politically aware people in the first place to get those jobs so I don’t think they could be unaware of the demographics of their guests. That isn’t to say that institutional biases aren’t at the heart of it, but at a certain level, you have to take responsibility for contributing to the continuance of the problem.
October 1st, 2007 12:20
I completely agree that the Daily show and The Colbert Report are sexist even if they don’t mean to be. I am concerned that not enough is being done about it. Another thing that is very disturbing is that Jon Stewart attacks female politicans(mostly Hillary Clinton because there are so few) with gender stereotypes and other personal attacks instead of attacking their stances on issues. I am of course referring to the latest thing he did on Hillary where is attacked her laugh. How come he doesn’t focus on stupid unimportant things like that when it comes to men?