Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

William Loeffler's take on local female comics was more predictable than the fat joke he included in the sidebar.  You know you are in for the typical male bullshit interpretation of women's lives when the opening grafs focus on Gab Bonesso's looks.  Not her comedy.  Not her success.  Not her challenges, barriers, issues, personality, education, resume, etc.  None of that.  Bill recycles a joke he used in a previous article and zeroes in on her “tomboyish appearance.”

Then he labels Nance Marshall as “sweet.”  Cause she's the really nice fat lady who makes fun of herself to put people at ease.  Bill doesn't stop to consider why the audience needs to feel comfortable laughing along with a fat lady.  Or why Gab or Subhah don't make jokes about their weight. 

He also tosses in the tidbit that the other Gab has a kid.  He doesn't contextualize that as in considering how her career impacts her family or does she tell mom jokes or anything that I have seen when Rolling Stone interview Chris Rock about his kids.  No.  It is just there because if women have spawned, you should know.  Just like fat women have to make fun of themselves. And Indian woman need to go ethnic with their jokes.  And that crazy Gab can talk about genitalia and getting stoned cause she's kind of boyish. 

To his credit, Bill does contemplate the challenges female comedians have been taken seriously.  He asks some men what they think about it.  And gives one of them the last word.  I guess Gab, Subhah, Nance and the other Gab were in the ladies room checking on their makeup.