Ladies, embrace your geeky side

A new breed of female comedians is changing what it means for women to be funny, successful, and even cool

By Sophia Swenson

Move over, Gossip Girl. Out of the way, 90210. The geeks are coming through. Although it is nice to sit down after a long and stressful day to the beauty and glamour of Blake Lively or AnnaLynne McCord, something always bothers me. How does Serena van der Woodsen keep her makeup so lovely even after a huge sob fest? And why doesn’t Naomi Clark get sweat stains on her nice Calvin Klein dress after frolicking around California in ninety-five degree heat? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Luckily, a new girl has blown into town. The kind of girl who isn’t afraid to talk about her smelly pits or the big swollen “ugly face” that comes right after a good cry. (Every girl’s got one, gentlemen; you’ll see it when we deem you worthy.)

“Who are these women?” one might ask. “And how did they get so fabulous?” Well, the newly- found love for the geeky/awkward/unpopular girl, (let’s just call her “gawkpopular”), all began with Tina Fey and her New York Times Best Seller Bossypants. Here lie Fey’s cringe-worthy memoirs of being a hermaphrodite child, turned awkward teenager, turned desperate college girl, turned weird improv roadie, turned beautiful gorgeous famous woman! It’s almost as easy as 1-2-3, ladies!

Even the stunning Zooey Deschanel couldn’t stay away from the temptations of becoming a painfully awkward lady in her show New Girl. I mean, if anyone can go from kissing Joseph Gordon-Levitt to singing songs with Justin Long (let’s not get into how much of an awesome nerd he is for becoming a symbol of Mac Computers), it’s the undeniably charming gawkpopular chick.

If you haven’t seen the movie Bridesmaids (and I’m assuming that everyone who lives in the United States and prides themselves on a respectably good sense of humor has), then immediately turn to the nearest iPhone owner and watch the entire film before returning to this article. No hurry. This can wait.

Now that you have just returned from witnessing the work of the funniest group of ladies since the Golden Girls, we can resume this little journey through the land of funny women. Oh yeah, they’re out there. And while women have been expected to cook, clean, and sew over hundreds of years, we have used that quiet time to think up some of the crudest and crass fart jokes that would make even Will Ferrel cringe.

These are a different type of female comedians – the type that will stand in front of the world and talk about bodily functions or swear words for hours. This is the kind of woman who doesn’t listen when men say “women can’t be funny,” but instead flips them a whole new type of bird made out of academy awards and other shiny metal statues that are probably sitting on top of Melissa McCarthy’s mantle right now.

So before we get too caught up in who stole whose boyfriend, or how someone managed to gain seven pounds, (could she be pregnant? Quick! Cue the collective gasp!) I’d just like to point out who comes out on top of all the television, computer generated, romantic comedy garbage: the girl who isn’t afraid to make a fool out of herself, or show off her comedic genius through methods that only men have used for the past hundred years.

I’m sorry. What did you say, beautiful twenty-something trying to portray a sixteen-year old? Mrs. Fey couldn’t hear you. Her stack of Emmy’s and Golden Globes got in the way.

So boys, next time you’re sitting in class, daydreaming of Regina George’s – ahem – nail polish collection, maybe take a walk on the wild side and talk to the chick next to you with the big glasses.

Girls, see that skinny kid in the corner reading? He’s going to invent the next Facebook. The hunk next to you who’s sticking his gum underneath the seat? Well, not all the Harry Potter books in the world have enough magic to get him a steady job.