Amy Schumer Shows How Ridiculous the Expectations for a Female President Are

VH1 Big In 2015 With Entertainment Weekly Awards - Arrivals
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 15: Comedian Amy Schumer attends the VH1 Big In 2015 with Entertainment Weekly Awards at Pacific Design Center on November 15, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
Photograph by Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic

As Hillary Clinton inches toward the Democratic nomination, some voters are inevitably starting to ask whether a woman is ready for the job. Would she be more emotional? More maternal? Able to handle the pressure?

Amy Schumer took on these questions—and voters’ irrational fears—in a Comedy Central skit on Thursday evening. In an episode of Inside Amy Schumer, the comedian plays Amy Schinton, the first woman elected president of the U.S.


On her first day on the job, Schinton gets her period, making her essentially unable to fulfill her duties as Commander-in-Chief. “I’m sorry, but does anyone have any Advil?” she asks during an emergency meeting about Iran. “I have epic cramps and my mind is like, mush right now if I’m being real.”

In a meeting with a government official, she has a fit after the man eats all the chocolate. “You’ve been eating all of them, you could have just at least asked me!”

 

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At the end of the skit, Schinton summarizes society’s irrational fear of menstruation: “You guys, I can’t be president because I got my period!”

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