I love Iliza Shlesinger. I watch a lot of stand up (it’s soothing!), and she remains on permanent rotation with John Mulaney, Ali Wong and Tom Segura in my kitchen. I’ve probably watched Confirmed Kills at least 10 times, and she never fails to crack me up. One of the things I love about her is her unabashed take-downs of what society expects from women. What we look like, what we act like, what choices we make — ALL OF IT IS WRONG NO MATTER WHAT WE DO.
“We try to stay as thin as possible – which also keeps us weak. When you’re skinny, you have no body fat; when you have no body fat, you’re cold all the time; and when you’re cold all the time, you stay inside; and when you stay inside… you don’t vote. I may be joking about that last part… but I’m not totally wrong. Ever stop to think that by keeping women eternally preoccupied with superficialities that we might be missing out on important things in life?” YES TO ALL OF THAT.
According to Shlesinger, girl logic is “a characteristically female way of thinking that appears contradictory and circuitous but is actually a complicated and highly evolved way of looking at the world”. Basically, our brains work constantly and we need to figure out how to use that!
Shlesinger also opens up about her life and how she got to where she is. She talks about her own insecurities, and how she’s overcome some and totally has not overcome others. She admits that a lot of her early stand up tears women apart — making fun of drunk girls and being catty — and apologizes for that, straight up. We need to work together and support each other, and she’s definitely about that life now.
She’s funny and honest and smart as fuck. Read her book, watch her stand up and then let’s begin the revolution!