This month, the third season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was released by Amazon Studios. Set in 1950s New York, Miriam "Midge" Maisel pursues a career in stand-up comedy after her husband leaves her. As depicted in the show, she often finds herself working harder than her male colleagues for less, experiencing sexism and double standards along the way.
Wednesday on St. Louis on the Air, local comedian Tina Dybal said that while the comedy scene is much more inclusive and welcoming than it was six decades ago, women comics still face double standards.
“We still have to work so much harder to get respect and to have people not come up to us after shows and be like, ‘That was a little too dirty,’ while we’re watching men do similar jokes on the flipside.”
Local comic Purdy Bee also joined the show, and she agreed with Dybal’s assessment. “It’s a man’s game. And we really have to work 50 times harder to prove ourselves,” she said.
Listen to the entire conversation:
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill, Lara Hamdan and Tonina Saputo. The engineer is Aaron Doerr, and production assistance is provided by Charlie McDonald.
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