To mark International Women’s Day, we spoke to Comedian Amy Hoggart about her new podcast, FeMANism. Amy lives in London with her boyfriend and baby daughter.
GM: Hi Amy. Readers should know that we went to school together. Do you feel a bit awkward?
AH: Hi Georgia. No, having gone to school together does not make me feel awkward. Are you suggesting that it should? What do you remember that I don’t?
GM: Very good. About me interviewing you. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it professional: Amy sashays into the room wearing a backless kimono and imperious grin etc etc.
AH: Ah, I misunderstood the question. Yes, I do feel very awkward.
GM: It is International Women’s Day. I wanted to do a Q&A with you because you’re an International Woman. That’s the point of it, right? After living in New York for so long, how does it feel to be back in London?
AH: I am an International Woman -- whatever that means -- thank you for noticing! Being back in London feels great. I’m closer to all my family and awkward school friends.
GM: The theme this year is ‘Invest in women: Accelerate Progress’. As an English graduate, please can you tell me why ‘women’ is not capitalised? It’s freaking me out. Do I smell foul play?
AH: For sure, I’d say this is a clear but plausibly deniable sign that we women are still considered to be quite rubbish. Not very rubbish, but definitely a bit. Even if our “progress” can now be “accelerated”, we’re still so unimportant that we’re un-capitalised in an otherwise over-capitalised sentence of which we’re the subject. I do hope that one day we will gain that big “W”, but we’re clearly still a way off.
GM: The message is so obvious and simple, it’s exasperating it’s still necessary to point it out. Have you had much first-hand experience of being held back because of your gender?
AH: Oh sure! In so many different ways that I’ll never know the true extent of it. The thing that I experience most frequently in comedy is being shut up. And usually by men who identify as feminists and would be shocked (shocked!) to be called up on this. I once worked with a director who would let all the men speak on camera and as soon as I tried, he’d immediately tell me to stop. “I’m going to stop you right there… Hold that thought, we’ll come back to that…” etc. I barely ever got a word in on his shoots and when I complained about it, it turned out that the production team had noticed but found it too awkward to intervene. Another time -- while in a position of authority! Humble but relevant brag! -- I spent a whole meeting listening to two men trade their opinions. When I finally, finally got a word in, one of them held up his hand and said “wait Amy, let me first just say what I think you were about to say…” Then he proceeded to say something I wasn’t about to say, as it was his dumb argument all over again. And I was technically his boss at the time! I’m sure this has nothing to do with the comedy industry and simply every woman’s experience in every workplace. Sorry, this is such a long answer, an essay really. Clearly I’ve been silenced for so long that I’m letting it all out now.
GM: Any women spring to mind who have Accelerated your Progress? Other than Alyson Hoggart (shout out to Alyson). I’m sure I voted for you to be Form Captain once.
AH: Ah lovely, shout out to my sweet mum every day of the year. She’ll always be my number one champion. And big thanks for your vote circa 2001. I’m pretty sure that it was Games Captain though? And that the whole thing was a joke because I was so lazy and so bad at P.E.? Whichever role, I remember refusing it because it was too much effort, immediately decelerating my own progress. More recently in my career, comedy is still so male-dominated that it’s usually been men who’ve helped me haha. Cheers guys, you’re all heroes. Notable female exceptions would be my agent, Becky Williams, and my old boss Samantha Bee.
Jodi Lennon also helped me so much as a writer/actress/comedian/director/producer/friend (sextuple threat!). Then all my female friends I’ve ever worked with, including of course you and my friend Samantha Martin. God, I’ve just realised that it sounds like I think I’m accepting an award for something. Listing all the women I couldn’t have done it without. Your readers will be like, “Done what? Who is this person?”
GM: Your brilliant podcast, FeMANism, is two male feminists (played by you and Sam Martin) ‘aiming to sort feminism out once and for all’. We all know these guys. And may / may not have dated a high proportion of them. Please could you tell us a bit more about it? (The podcast. Dating stories also welcome).
AH: Sure, Sam and I play two men mansplaining feminism and yes, it is mostly based on men we’ve dated. One big inspiration was a conversation I once had with an ex during which he fully explained feminism to me. The most frustrating thing was that I only clicked afterwards that he knew so many facts because he’d recently read Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things To Me. Fabulous irony! Smashing hilarity! If only my dumb female brain had figured that out during our actual conversation. My character in our podcast is a brash, sex-obsessed TV producer calling himself a feminist to get laid and Sam’s is a wafty spiritual guy who’s calling himself a feminist to try and one-up his wife and daughters. It’s not yet sorted feminism out once and for all, but we do make each other laugh recording it, which isn’t nothing. We have a great producer Christine Macdonald and it’s just lovely working together, being kind and supportive to each other and saying “sorry” too much.
GM: When does your boyfriend wear his ‘This is what a feminist looks like’ t-shirt? Must be hard to get him out of it. If you know what I mean.
AH: Haha, I do know what you mean. I forgot about those T-shirts.
GM: Not good.
AH: Not good. My boyfriend is a set builder. If he wore one, it would be desecrated almost immediately with paint, glue and sharpie stains.
GM: I can imagine the podcast has been cathartic to record?
AH: Yes! So much. All our ideas are just us acting out something we need to get off our chests. We get so much inspiration from our love lives and our friends’ love lives. We’ll have to get you on George, any time you need some catharsis yourself. It’s so much fun.
GM: Has having your sweet, sweet baby daughter made you think about things differently?
AH: Ah thanks! I wouldn’t say having a daughter makes me think about things differently, but it does make me think about things more. I’m certainly even angrier about misogyny these days. I want all women and girls to be safe and well and treated with respect and fairness. But I particularly want these things for my daughter. I also want her to be free to later on not identify as female and for that to be also safe and ok. So much needs to change and improve, and I do think that many women need to do some work too, bigotry is so baked into our society.
GM: What can we all do to invest in each other? You’re an amazing friend and I love you. Ploughing wine and hours of conversation into friendship definitely counts.
AH: Ah thanks George, I love you so much too. Going to an all-girls school really gave me such incredible friends, but it also put me through the wringer. Was that your experience? I think that women were really pitted against each other in the '90s and ‘00s, fostering unnecessary competition and a need to present as perfect all the time. But I’ve noticed huge changes since then. I’m always at my best when I’m being honest and messy with my other honest, messy friends. Like you -- shout out to your mess, George. I think investing in each other requires authenticity -- sorry to be cheesy. To trust that there is enough for all of us, to build community, help each other and be helped. Now I just sound like a bland centrist politician on a campaign. Your readers will think, “Again, who is this person? What are they running for and how can I make sure they don’t win?”
GM: You’ve got my vote. And your mum’s.
Listen to Femanism here.
March, 2024
