Amy Schumer just released her latest stand-up special on Netflix called “Amy Schumer: The Leather Special,” and it’s pretty much the raunch of your dreams. The 35-year-old does not let you leave your couch without feeling uncomfortable, but at the same time sore from laughing your ass off. Literally, mine is on the floor right now.
She covers it all: smells, body image issues, losing weight for Hollywood, even food poisoning. It’s all there and it’s all Amy, some of her best material yet. For instance, she totally talks about the time she posed basically naked for Annie Liebovitz:
“I tweeted out a photo of myself wearing just underwear — nothing but underwear. I’m holding a coffee, I’m topless in just underwear, and it goes viral. Like it was everywhere. Every news show. Every website. And that’s when I learned the word you don’t want people to use when a nude photo of you goes viral: brave.”
“Every comic has some special where they wear leather and regret it later. This is my moment. Leather special!!! Already regret it!”
https://youtu.be/Ux-x1GnUuqY
Amy also broached a hard topic for many: body image. She reveals how she was told to lose weight for “Trainwreck.” While she was “joking,” what she says is also telling about how she has struggled with meeting arbitrary beauty standards.
“I am what Hollywood calls ‘very fat.’ When I was doing my first movie Trainwreck, before I did anything, somebody explained to me, ‘Just so you know, Amy, no pressure, but if you weigh over 140 pounds, it will hurt people’s eyes.’ I just bought it. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m new to town.’ So I lost weight.”
She then goes on to explain that she realized being skinny didn’t make her happy, nor did it feel like her. That realization wass not only a life-saver for her, but can be a huge relief for all women and girls. Many women spend their entire lives battling their weight, perpetually unhappy. I know I’ve definitely struggled with body image issues, unhappy I don’t look like all the perfect Instagrams I see on my feed continually. But then, thankfully, I realize I don’t need to look that way all the time, and no one does.
Amy went on to say:
“Thank God I look very stupid skinny. My dumb head stays the same size, but then my body, like, shrivels and I just look like, a Thanksgiving Day parade float of Tonya Harding … Nobody likes it. It’s not cute on me.
I got worried because it gets in your head — just everything on television and movies and magazines and the internet. I’m like, ‘Oh, my god! Are men still going to be attracted to me?’ And that’s when I remembered … they don’t care.”
https://youtu.be/lL-24aRRwBs
Honestly, I’m glad Amy uses her platform to talk about issues like this. We struggle with body image and a lack of body positivity everyday, and we all need to be able to laugh about it–and Amy helps us do that. Don’t forget to watch the full “Amy Schumer: The Leather Special” on Netflix.
