IRB Intro Post

Bossypants by Tina Fey is an autobiography and satirical telling of the life of Tina Fey from adolescence to adulthood. One of the first chapters is titled, “All Girls Must Be Everything.”  Fey goes on to list all of the outstanding expectations of women in today's society and environment. After listing and attacking countless examples of these expectations, Fey goes on to connect many of them to specific anecdotes from her life and references to similar experiences. I was surprised to find some gaping truths beneath the funny, and often sarcastic, tone of these first few chapters. The concept of girl-on-girl sabotage really struck me—from when Tina outcasts a young dancer who stole her boyfriend to when she goes behind Donna’s back to steal her desk job. I was surprised to see Tina cross Donna, considering the main thing she learned in that job was “how to be a considerate coworker.” Throughout the text so far the style seems to be that of anecdotes linking past stories and stories from her present life in order to convey a message or theme in ever chapter. Humor, satire, and anecdotes appear to be the formula for this autobiography. For those who are fans of Tina Fey it is particularly gratifying to see the roots of many scenes from 30 Rock and other works Fey had collaboration with. I am looking forward to seeing more of these real life experience that made it into Fey's works such as Mean Girls. The overall purpose seems to be the projection of female empowerment, perseverance, acceptance of all peoples, and life lessons. It seems like a very promising read.