Jezebel’s piece from awhile back about the lack of female talent at The Daily Show really must have struck a nerve with Tina Fey. Fey devoted a substantial amount of time to addressing some of its criticisms in last night’s episode, and Rebecca Traitster at Salon has written up a staggeringly insightful response to it that describes how Fey manages to have her cake and eat it too:
Mesmerizingly, practically the whole half hour of network television was dedicated to slicing and dicing nearly every angle of the arguments that crop up any time anyone tries to talk about gender, popularity and perception. It was a testament to the fact that these arguments have been cropping up ever more frequently in recent years, thanks in no small part to the ascension of Fey and her generation of talented (and very often beautiful) comedians, as well as the rise of a critical and popular feminist-minded blogosphere that keeps a celebratory and often cutting eye on the gender history being made in media, politics and entertainment.
Emily Nussbaum also has some background details in her write up over at New York.