February 9, 2009
A Few Words with Sarah Haskins
By Denise Tong
Commercials, TV series, movies, and books constantly broadcast messages about how girls and women should live their lives—often to ridiculous results. Comedian Sarah Haskins humorously skewers these messages in Target Women, a segment that is part of infoMania, Current TV’s weekly show (Thursdays, 10 p.m. EST).
As Target Women‘s writer and star, Haskins has taken shots at women-marketed items such as cleaning supplies, birth control, diets, chick flicks, and chocolate; recently she introduced an hour-long Super Special in which she looked back at her favorite segments. Since the first Target clip debuted in March 2008, she has received exuberant kudos from numerous Web sites and blogs, particularly those with a feminist focus.
Before moving to Los Angeles and joining Current, the Chicago native cut her comic teeth in her hometown by writing, directing, and performing improvisational and sketch comedy with various local theaters and groups.
Read on for Haskins’ thoughts on her series and women in the media.
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CV: What kind of response did you expect from viewers when you started Target Women and how does it compare with what the response has actually been?
SH: Honestly, I didn’t expect anything. I just wanted to get to do a segment for infoMania. The positive reaction we’ve received is a wonderful and much appreciated surprise.
CV: Are you planning on exploring these topics in other ways, such as other extended episodes, or a permanent change in format?
SH: I think we like to experiment and try new stuff. When I say “we,” by the way, I’m referring to producer/editor Dylan Osborn and myself. Our resources are finite, but we’ll try to do as much as we can.
CV: Which do you prefer: writing, performing, or directing?
SH: I like them all. Getting used to the scrutiny that comes along with performing in this Internet world is a little unnerving and sometimes makes me want to disappear, but I’m slowly adapting to it.
CV: So which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do you think these notions of what women should be are created by the media, which then influences us; created by us and simply reflected in the media; or both?
SH: Good question—it’s a very complicated relationship. In advertising you connect with consumers by showing them how your product will help them achieve an ideal. I think sometimes the ideal is already in the culture, and sometimes the advertising can create new ideals. I guess what I’m saying is that the chicken and the egg both spontaneously and contemporaneously exploded. And it was delicious.
CV: Do you think ads and other media targeted to women are gradually getting better or worse?
SH: Hrm. I think “better” in that as cultural mores change, we’re in such a media-intensive society that there is a backlash at stuff that feels like it’s out of the Stone Age. But this is a generalization.
We need bad media for several reasons, including me getting dental insurance.
CV: Are there any women-targeted campaigns out there right now that purport to be full of “girl power” but, in your opinion, truly aren’t?
SH: Well, most of them. How does a sport drink or whatever have anything to do with self-confidence? Advertising creates a narrative about a thing that does not have a narrative.
CV: Are there any that you think are done really well?
SH: I’m afraid I’m a little myopic. I’m not looking for good stuff. You can’t make fun of it.
CV: To what degree did you buy into all of the expectations of womanhood when you were growing up?
SH: Not much. My mom always made it very clear to me that she expected me to get an education and support myself. I think my attitude towards marketing towards women comes from being raised in a family by a woman who was making huge sacrifices to raise my sister and me, and yet she still felt guilty that the house was messy or the laundry wasn’t folded. The pressure that ideal housewife/mom image put on her made me think someone’s priorities were out of whack.
CV: When you’re surfing the Internet instead of appearing on it, where do you like to go?
SH: The New York Times, Jezebel.com, New York Magazine’s Daily Intel.
CV: Do you have any plans to start your own Web site?
SH: No. I have the same level of tech-savviness as a small baby.
CV: Finally, what are your pop culture guilty pleasures?
SH: Gossip Girl. I even read the books, which are actually pretty fantastic.
