I ♥ Television

There is no doubt that Tina Fey inspired a “lady-writer” look.  Survey the population of television fans and writers with two X chromosomes and chances are high that you will find many pairs of sassy glasses among them.*  While popular opinion of girls who wear glasses has changed over time, Tina Fey gave a bespectacled face to female writers.

But now that Tina Fey’s resemblance to Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been well established, acknowledged, and parodied, even Fey seems to have grown weary of the model she helped create. Lynn Elber of the Associated Press reports:

For nominee Tina Fey of “30 Rock,” the big question on the red carpet: Did she think she would be enlisted to impersonate GOP vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin on her old show, “Saturday Night Live.” once Palin was nominated?

“I had a sinking feeling,” Fey said, with her hair down and no glasses — looking unlike Palin.

The fact that Fey is being interviewed about her physical resemblance to Palin on the night that 30 Rock — the show she created, executive produces and stars in — is up for seventeen Emmys is a sure sign that the image of a myopic female has been completely appropriated by the nearsighted Republican party.  The endless comparison is probably more than enough incentive for Fey to leave her glasses at home permanently.  It also begs the question, how will a generation of aspiring female writers be recognized, now that glasses can no longer serve as a visual shorthand for intelligence or wit?

*In a recent sitcom writing class I attended, four out of the six young women enrolled had fashion forward eye-wear.