As our post-Weinstein moment takes down powerful man after powerful man, some have started to worry: Are we going too far? Will any men be left at the end of it all? It’s a scary time to be a man, apparently.
The women of SNL remind men of the post-Weinstein era that women have long been in hell
Constance Grady is a senior correspondent on the Culture team for Vox, where since 2016 she has covered books, publishing, gender, celebrity analysis, and theater.
The women of SNL, along with host Saoirse Ronan, are here to let you know that they sympathize. It is scary. But, also: Things have been scary for women for a really long time. Like, always.
In a cheery Fifth Harmony-inspired song, SNL’s female cast welcomes men to the hell women are already all too familiar with. But “This ain’t a girl group,” they clarify. “We just travel in a pack for safety.”
The song acknowledges that while it’s sad and all that House of Cards has been ruined, there are lots of other things that have been ruined for women — for example: walking, drinking, hotels, Uber, bathrobes, and vans. (“Nothing good happens in a van!”)
And as Leslie Jones reminds us all halfway through, things are even worse for women of color than they are for white women, even though our post-Weinstein public reckoning with sexual harassment has focused much of its attention on the victimization of wealthy, famous white women.
But the plus side is that now that we’re all in this situation together, we can all be freaked out together. We can join together in wondering if the guy in the trench coat is doing something sinister, and whether the free cat is actually bait in a trap set by a sinister guy in a trench coat.
The world may be, as SNL says, a “maze of boners,” but at least we’re here together. Welcome to hell.
