What Amy Schumer's Emmy Win Means For College Women

By Jessi Stickel on September 28, 2015

Those who watched the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards this past Sunday (and even those who didn’t) heard about the highlights of the evening.

Viola Davis (“How to Get Away With Murder”) made history by being the first African American women to win an Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the New Black”) also took home an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and gave a touching speech. The television series “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” took home several Emmys each.

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The media is also talking about Amy Schumer’s (“Inside Amy Schumer”) speech for her Emmy win for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. Schumer, her sister and the producers of “Inside Amy Schumer” (2013- ) took the stage after the announcement of their win. Amy was clearly in shock and did not seem to have a speech prepared, so being Amy, she winged it and rocked it.

At the beginning of her speech Amy was holding back tears, but later she had everyone laughing with her quote “Thanks for everyone who helped me, the girl who gave me this smokey eye, I really love it,” referring to her makeup artist.

Everyone focused on the comical part of her speech and sort of looked over her serious statement: “This show fights for what we believe in.”

When people think of the Comedy Central comedic show “Inside Amy Schumer,” they might think of stupid funny and racy jokes and sketches, which is true. However, behind almost every sketch there is a meaning, usually to bring awareness to important issues in society.

Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup

A boy band music video parody sketch on the third season of “Inside Amy Schumer” also won a Emmy this year for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. In this sketch a boy band is telling a girl (Amy) “Girl, you don’t need makeup. You’re prefect when you wake up.”

However, the boys change their minds once she has a natural, no makeup face.

This July, journalist Mo Rocca with CBS Sunday Morning asked Amy how she felt about people calling her a feminist. Amy said, “If I’m preaching for women’s equality then sign me up. It’s so crazy that people don’t identify as feminist.”

In this sketch that is exactly what she is doing. The American society holds women up to these standards that they have to wear makeup, dress well and look pretty all the time, but men are not held to that at all. Men just look how they look and everyone accepts them for how they are.

The parody music video expresses how some men say they like women who do not wear makeup, or when women go natural, but honestly do not mean it since when they see a woman without makeup they do not think she is attractive. If men would see a picture of Kim Kardashian without makeup on, many would say she was unattractive to them. This is something that Amy stands up for and bring awareness to, that women shouldn’t be held to a higher standard.

Last F**kable Day

This sketch on “Inside Amy Schumer” was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series. On a walk, Amy stumbles upon Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey and Patricia Arquette having a picnic, and it turns out they are celebrating Julia’s last f**kable day.

The middle aged actresses explain to Amy that the media decides when an actresses is not f**kable anymore. Later in the conversation Amy asks how do men know when it’s their last f**kable day, they respond in laughter and tell her that men never have that day, they are “f**kable forever.”

Not only is this sketch ingeniously hilarious, but it also brings a big issue in the media to light. Amy has already expressed that women are put on a pedestal, but in this sketch she is portraying her views on how extremely analyzed and ridiculed women celebrities are. Men on the other hand are not judged nearly as much.

At the Emmy Awards, Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer took the stage together, and Schumer said something about this issue women face. “Let’s not forget what tonight is really about: celebrating hilarious women and letting the Internet weigh in on who looks the worst.”

This was meant as a joke, but it is extremely truthful. Many celebrities, including Amy, get judged for how they look instead of their talent.

Amy’s younger sister Kim Caramele interviewed her for Glamour magazine back in July and Schumer spilled her feelings about the controversial issue.

“For women, we’re taught to eat less until we disappear. And trained to believe that if you don’t look like everyone else, then you’re unlovable,” Schumer said. “And men are not trained that way. Men can look like whatever and still date a supermodel.”

Football Town Nights

The first episode of the third season of “Inside Amy Schumer” included a “Friday Night Lights” parody sketch. The sketch shows how lightly rape is taken in high school and college. In a comedic way it shows how a new coach puts down a “No raping” policy for the football team.

Journalist Mo Rocca with CBS Sunday Morning also talked with Schumer about her parody sketch about rape.

Schumer explained the following.

“The statistics on girls getting raped in college is unreal, it’s horrible. We think this is funny and also maybe a girl will see this that this happened to and she’ll feel less alone, maybe a guy will see it and think it’s not cool if the girl was sleeping, and it’s not cool if I film it. You know, maybe that will get in there.”

This particular sketch is one of the most talked about in Schumer’s show because of the message behind it. The “Inside Amy Schumer” writers and team have a way of taking a serious issue and making it funny, yet still having a great take away from it.

12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer

This extended sketch actually took up the whole episode of “Inside Amy Schumer” and was talked about by many that it was nominated for Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing (“12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer”) for a Variety Series.

The sketch is somewhat a version of the 1957 drama film “12 Angry Men” where 12 men in a jury have to agree whether Amy Schumer is hot enough for television.

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This is another “Inside Amy Schumer” sketch that has Amy’s feminist voice behind it; she directed the episode as well.

To Glamour Amy Schumer said, “I want to make women laugh. I want to make them feel beautiful in their own skin. I want to empower them to use their voice and not apologize. And I want a jet.”

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Amy Schumer’s Emmy win for her show stands for her beliefs behind the “Inside Amy Schumer” hysterical sketches. She is using her publicity for good and trying to change society for women. She is bringing awareness to how society has taught women to think and how men should see them. Amy wants women to accept and love themselves for who they are and not let society determine how they feel.

Congratulations Schumes, you deserve it!

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