Amy Schumer as Philosopher: Fuck the Feminine Mystique

Abstract

Amy Schumer’s feminist revolt is a rejection of the feminine mystique – that is to say, a rejection of the idea that certain aspects of the experiences of women should remain mysterious. Through persistent honesty, Schumer’s comedy and other works contribute to the feminist goal of revising patriarchal concepts of femininity by expanding those concepts to include a more complex representation of women and our experience. Her portrayals of women’s physicality, women’s sexuality, and of woman as a social being demand a reconceptualization of woman as a moral and rational entity (i.e., a full-blown human). Her work laughs at the dehumanizing social constructs that define woman as something less-than, and in doing so reduce woman’s alienation by reconciling concepts of women as we are and women as we are perceived.