| Sarah Haskins | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 3, 1979 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Medium | Improvisational comedy, television, internet |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Satire |
| Subject(s) | Feminism, popular culture, advertising, media |
Sarah Haskins (born August 3, 1979) is an American comedian known for her satire about gender stereotypes in the media.
Contents |
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Haskins attended Francis W. Parker School in Chicago's Lincoln Park.[1] A 2001 graduate of Harvard College, she was also a member of the improv comedy troupe, The Immediate Gratification Players.[2]
In October 2007, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.[2] She worked as a full-time writer for Current TV and a regular contributor to the weekly series InfoMania on Current, a network co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore. Haskins wrote and starred in the InfoMania segment "Target Women" in which she commented on products, advertising, and media aimed at women. Segment topics have included: wedding shows, jewelry, cleaning supplies, Sarah Palin and the "lady vote", Twilight, cars and The View. The show’s first episode, "Target Women: Yogurt", was an online hit. Prior to working for Current, she was an improvisational and sketch comedy performer at I.O. (ImprovOlympic) Chicago as well as with the Second City National Touring Company for six years before moving to California.[3] She lists her influences and heroes as "Chicago, Katharine Graham, Tina Fey, improvisation, Francis Parker".[3]
A self-described liberal and feminist,[4] she has spoken in interviews about the myriad of both traditional and new roles that women of the modern world are expected to fulfill: taking on new roles as career women and as financially independent individuals while still adhering to antiquated stereotypes about an ideal woman and her role in a traditional society.[5]
Once, when I was about eleven and my sister was eight, we were going on a camping trip. The day of the trip, in the car, on the way, I got scared and started trying to back out of the trip saying I don't want to go. And my Mom, turned around in her seat and yelled "YOU'RE GOING! YOU COME FROM A LINE OF STRONG WOMEN!" And I think that attitude's infected me. There are also strong women in the industry, and a lot of them have been very helpful to me – so, I have a positive attitude right now. I want to do stuff, and I don't want anyone to stop me.[6]
Haskins majored in American History and Literature at Harvard University. While at Harvard she began improvising with a group called IGP or "the Immediate Gratification Players." This inspired her interest in comedy.
"Freshman year of college I saw a show at Second City called The Psychopath Not Taken. I loved it—I was doing improv at the time at school with a great group called IGP—and Psychopath expanded my sense of what comedy could do. It was funny, smart, and important.”[4]
When asked if she is a feminist: "Yes, I’m a feminist. It is an extension of my lifelong war against pantyhose. To me it means that as women we are individuals before we are gendered people and that we’re not defined by our gender except in the ways we chose to appropriate that definition. We’re in a weird generation, right? Our moms were forced to grapple with that definition more immediately, and I think it’s changed as we’ve grown up. The core issue 'how do I fight bias against me because of my gender' is still there but has gotten more complicated and wrapped into all kinds of identity issues about how you present yourself as a woman and I pretty much think it's your choice. And fuck pantyhose."[4]
In January 2010, Haskins parted ways with Current TV, leaving her central role in the Target Women segment behind.[6]
According to her Twitter account, she is pregnant.[7]