Naked Female Comedians: Please Put Your Clothes Back On (PHOTOS)

Apparently, posing nude -- or mostly nude -- in a mens' magazine is still some sort of rite of passage for female entertainers, and there has been a spate of female comedians stripping down recently. We have to admit, as fans of comedy and women in comedy especially, my fellow editors and I die a little bit every time this happens. When we saw the new behind-the-scenes video of Abby Elliott's Maxim shoot, we decided it was time to start a conversation.

In one sense, there is a pragmatic way of looking at this: in order to win a larger male audience, women have to remind men that they are women (with a capital T & A). Conventional wisdom says that funny women are intimidating, so why not take yourself down a peg -- or article of clothing -- or two to make yourself a little more approachable?

This makes good career sense, but does it undermine the struggle to let a woman's work, not her workout, be her selling point? To put it another way, we aren't expecting to see Sarah Vowell in a Maxim photo shoot anytime soon, and we doubt that has hurt her career very much.

Another, perhaps even more crucial point, is that from all accounts, these sorts of photo shoots are a lot of fun. We are sexual beings after all and to deny that is not only wrong, it's naive.

Nevertheless, at a time when so many men feel comfortable saying, "I don't find women funny," it doesn't sit well with us to see many of those same men rewarded with getting to see actual funny women in the buff.

Below are a few examples of funny women who could/should keep their clothes on (unless, of course, it's for a role and it's tasteful and artistically justified, etc. etc.). It's not because they aren't beautiful, of course they are. It's because we consider placating the readers of laddie mags just so beneath them.

What do you think? Does seeing hilarious women strip down bother you or is it all in good fun?

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post did not adequately attribute the photo of Tina Fey. The original photo shoot was for BUST Magazine, which describes itself as "an uncensored view on the female experience." The photo in question was re-posted at Maxim.com, where we found it.

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Alison Brie & Gillian Jacobs in GQ

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This photo is not an insulting, literal dressing down of women who normally seem funny and empowered in the same way that "Top Gun" is not homoerotic. Photo via GQ

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This photo is not an insulting, literal dressing down of women who normally seem funny and empowered in the same way that "Top Gun" is not homoerotic.

Photo via GQ

comments(633)

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Note: Yes, we know some of you are only here for naked pictures.

 

Follow Carol Hartsell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/carolrhartsell

Comments

[DOG85]

01:34 PM on 02/10/2012

Let's drop the innocence:

Some women, as well as some men (like me), feel good to be a little exhibitionist (actually, when I feel handsome, I can be way more exhibitionist).

And I'd do it for free, just to appreciate my pics, so why all the fuzz for some women (comedians or not, what the hell!) if they want to do it.

Man, I'd love to see one of them coming out and saying it straight "I don't care, I just wanted to feel sexy because I know I am (and I deserve a nice photobook to have for myself, because it's perfectly natural to be proud of the beautiful body that God, Mom and Dad gave us, ok?)".

That's the sincerity I'd like to hear from them, so that people with too many ideological issues like you, Carol Hartsell (and I, because I'm clearly one), can just sleep assured that our comedians are "true and honorable to their work/cause/whatever".

Really, they're just people, like us. We are vain too and proud of it. Let them be free, just like you and I are.

Do love their career, but don't mix it with their life: stick to the comedy comments.

Sincerely,

Diogo Olle Galvão

(a.k.a.: DOG)

P.S.: Sorry if I was too harsh.

[Pecan Sandies]

08:00 PM on 02/05/2012

Funny ladies are sexy with or without their clothes. I prefer without though.

[Albers Albersblog]

09:39 AM on 02/05/2012

La mujer es bella, es libre como todo ser de nuestro universo. La mujer es el ser más bello e inigualable que existe en el mundo..!! La mujer es divertida y no necesita tirar abajo nada!!!

http://laorejaenelruido.blogspot.com

[MrTreize]

07:20 PM on 02/03/2012

Or it could simply be that women are overreacting. I've never even heard of most of the women in the slide show on this article but then again, I also do not have broadcast tv in my home. The funny thing is, I do know who one or two of them are and the fact that this article points out that these pictures further their careers might be a vast overstatement as I don't even read magazine about anything aside from cars and yet I know the one or two on that slide show becasue of their comedic chops and standing as truly hilarious women. But then again, as I live in an isolated area, I may be in the vast minority.

[robogobo]

10:37 AM on 02/02/2012

Um, who's Sarah Vowell?

I don't know any men who don't think funny women are funny. And they don't find them intimidating. Quite the contrary.

[Bobyjolly]

02:54 AM on 12/31/2011

So funny pic it is? The Naked Women

do this very well, and They are incredibly good looking female exhibition­ists and they are
Physicall­y Uncomforta­ble but Great Personalit­y

[Glowangs]

01:01 AM on 12/31/2011

So funny/empowered women can't be kinky/sexy also?

Looks like someone is tired from having to work twice as hard to earn the same pay as her male counterpart.

[Swinger Style]

02:22 AM on 12/28/2011

I'm feeling the pose ladies.......Two hot, beautiful, sensual and intelligent women.....Grace it, I would...ROCK ON!!!.. I GUESS IT THE WO-((MAN)) IN ME.....LOVE THE HEELS
BAD GIRLZ!!

[thomp5000]

03:02 AM on 12/25/2011

Let's put it this way, the only reason I read the blog was because it had photos. You knew the answer to the question... That's why the photos are there.

[DrObvious]

11:13 PM on 12/24/2011

ok. slipping in a ringer is a wonderful thing in this situation .... but the comediennes have naught to fret over ... they create their own steamy lines, whether spoken or seen

[Joe Brody]

05:42 PM on 12/23/2011

As soon as you said you think that men find funny women intimidating, I knew this article would be crap. I was right. I'm really tired of being told that, as a man, I find every positive attribute about a woman intimidating. Strength, humor, intelligence, success... I admire these things. I don't resent them. And many men feel the same way. And we would all like this stereotyping of us to stop.

[gretagirl59]

11:20 AM on 02/10/2012

Bravo!!!

[Madeleine Dougherty]

07:33 AM on 12/23/2011

I really hate that you were dissing Tina Fey for that photo. I've been reading BUST for 9 years, and I remember reading that particular issue with relish because I have so much respect for Fey. In her Bust Magazine interview, she was incredibly candid about why she doesn't do undie shoots (you can't even see her cleavage in that photo, for crying out loud!), and all of those photos were intended for a FEMINIST, non-objectifying gaze. You can't lump every single underwear photo under the same heading when they obviously have different audiences and therefore different objectives.

[TouchedByHisNoodlyness]

12:25 AM on 12/23/2011

Maybe you should be saying

"Hey, incredibly good looking female exhibitionists

Mind not doing comedy anymore?

The rest of us are not comfortable with our bodies. Thanks.

-Physically Uncomfortable but Great Personality
"
************************
Carol, you're part of modern feminism's vestigial tail. Mind rotting off already? Thanks.

-Modern Feminist Wtih a Sex Drive, Sense of Humor, AND an Intellect

[hoosierdaddy22304]

08:22 PM on 12/22/2011

One of the most scandalously sexy women of Hollywood, Hedy Lamarr, made nude movies. She was also inventor of "frequency Hopping," a technique essential to prevent jamming missiles and torpedoes. She held several patents. She also slipped her German husband a mickey to slip out of Nazi Germany when she realized what she'd gotten into. A brave, smart, sexy woman--no reason a lady can't enjoy being all three.
http://www.inventions.org/culture/female/lamarr.html

[Lex icon]

07:58 PM on 12/22/2011

It's a shame that society degrades women (Among everything else) as just objects. Character is true beauty. I don't respect the idea of "sex sells". If sex sells, then I ain't buyin'. It's about as depraved as a group of men drooling over food they can't eat. Imagine, why would you just gawk at food all day?
Sex and sexiness is definitely something sacred between a husband and his wife and shouldn't be exposed the way it is out there for the world to see.

[Joe Brody]

05:38 PM on 12/23/2011

Grow up. Sexiness is one of the great beauties of life. It's about enjoying the sight, like a painting or sculpture, except it appeals to a different sense. You need to relax. Beautiful women can enjoy being beautiful, they don't have to wear a burqa to satisfy the uptight fools of the world who think everything not involving a wedding ring is dirty.