I’d like to propose a new expression. This expression refers
to the phenomenon wherein someone makes a joke based on the assumption that we
live in a post-sexism world, and ends up pissing everybody off because we do
not actually live in a post-sexism world. Such a misstep shall heretofore be
called: a Spinning Vergara.
Example: “At the Christmas party, Dan pulled a Spinning
Vergara when he attempted to guess Michelle’s bra size. He argued that since he
was only kidding and truly respects her as a coworker and an equal, that it
wasn’t really sexist.”
I am talking, of course, about the
much pilloried skit at this year’s Emmys where Sofia Vergara was displayed on a
spinning platform as a sexy adornment to some executive’s speech about how far
television has come in terms of gender and racial diversity. It was meant to be
ironic; the Television Academy congratulating themselves on their
progressiveness while displaying a woman of color like a brainless prize. More
than that, it was supposed to be amusing. The public (as embodied by the
Twitterverse/blogosphere/mainstream media in that order) was not amused. People
were shocked and appalled by what they perceived as a tasteless, sexist,
disgusting stunt.
I am constantly mystified by the
choices made by the entertainment industry. Rarely do I watch an awards show
without asking myself “oh God, what were they thinking?” several times. Strangely
enough though, this was not one of those times. I’m not saying it was a great
bit. But I can kind of see what they were going for. I can see why they thought
it would be funny to jazz up a boring speech with some good-natured T&A. I
can see how the repeated instances of the term “platform” in the speech led to
the idea of using an actual platform. I can see how they discussed who could
sell the bit best, settling on the one woman who had the measurements of
Christina Hendricks, the hammy comedic chops of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and was a
past Emmy winner to boot. I can totally imagine how they came up with this
idea, and I also can see how they hedged their bets and concluded that most
people would appreciate the humor. After all, it’s an overt send up of sexism.
That’s why it’s not sexist. Right?
For
whatever reason, I feel the need to play devil’s advocate on this one. I’m not
sure why. Maybe it’s because the subtext of the skit (“Hey! Look at Sofia
Vergara! She’s hot! It’s funny because she’s hot!”) is also the subtext of
pretty much every scene that she’s in on Modern Family. And if there is one
thing that the Emmys LOVE it is Modern Family. One way or another, Vergara’s
fabulous curves are being exploited to comedic effect. And to celebrate that exploitation
in one context while chastising it in another seems a mite hypocritical to me.
I also
genuinely believe that Vergara liked the idea and wanted to do it. She responded
to the first round of haters, saying the skit was “the opposite” of sexism,
going on to say “it just means that someone can be hot and funny and make fun
of herself”. Her defense didn’t seem to change anyone’s mind, which I find kind
of surprising. It’s almost like they’re suggesting that Vergara, silly naif
that she is, simply failed to recognize that she’s being objectified. This is
not giving her anywhere near enough credit. She is the highest paid woman on TV.
More importantly, she is a 42 year old, curvaceous Latina owning an industry that is still overwhelmingly biased towards
scrawny 22 year old white girls. She knows what she’s doing, and she’s totally
in control of her own image. So if she’s doesn’t see a problem with it, why
should we?
I’m not
saying the skit was a good idea, because it wasn’t. It grossly misinterpreted
the times. It’s like when a joke is considered “too soon” except in this case
it’s more like “not yet.” Hopefully there will come a time when the objectification
of women of color in entertainment is such a foreign concept that a skit
blatantly lampooning the practice doesn’t leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth.
But we don’t live in a post-sexism world yet. At best we live in a pre-post
sexism world. The goal is in site, and we’re all working towards it, but the
reaction to this skit was a powerful reminder that we’re not there yet. In the
meantime, many more Spinning Vergaras will occur. And when they do, we need to
take them as a chance to reflect, reassess, and communicate with each other.
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