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Go deep into fall TV’s hottest trend: vagina

Vagina is hot. Well, on TV. Well, the use of the word on TV. Well, wait, what were we talking about again? The venerable New York Times snatched upon this new trend and has even declared this “the season of the vagina.” So many “That’s what she said” jokes are running through my head right now I think my brain might explode.

Three new fall shows in particular have gotten in on this trend: CBS’ 2 Broke Girls, ABC’s Suburgatory and NBC’s Whitney. These are all broadcast network sitcoms and all female-fronted shows. Two of the shows (2 Broke Girls and Suburgatory) air at 8:30 p.m., within the so-called “family hour” of broadcast TV. As The NYT puts it, “unbleeped references to anatomical parts being tossed around so freely, it is clearly a new era for network comedy, one that might have parents reaching for the remote, or at least for Google.”

Women being allowed to use the correct anatomical terms for their body parts on the television? What are we? French?

The jokes themselves really muff the punchline, so to speak. The 2 Broke Girls laugh line was apparently so blue the NYT only linked to it. But if you must know, star Kat Dennings’ waitress character gives two hipsters the what-for after they snap their fingers at her and says, “You think this is the sound (snaps) that gets you service. I think this is the sound (snaps) that dries out my vagina.”

The Suburgatory punchline doesn’t beat around the bush either, as lead Tessa (played by newcomer Jane Levy) tells her friend that her short shorts show off “your vagina.” The Whitney joke riffs on the practice of vajazzling and has the show’s eponymous star Whitney Cummings saying “When did vaginas get so boring? Do you think a guy ever saw a naked woman and went, ‘No, thank you; not sparkly enough’? “

Somewhere someone is coming up with a sparkly vajayjay Twilight porn parody as we speak.

Of course, penis jokes are nothing new on TV. Leading into the 2 Broke Girls premiere on Monday was the much-ballyhooed debut of Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men. Kutcher was pretty much naked for his whole appearance in what amounted to one, long dick joke. Where’s the trend piece on that, New York Times?

The larger question is, why would the use of the word “vagina” be bleeped in the first place? When did the politics of poontang become such a Bermuda triangle? I mean, is it edgy to have ladies talk about their lady business? If that’s the case, why aren’t the 900 gajillion commercials I’ve seen for male erectile dysfunction also edgy? Should they have NC-17 ratings and be shown in arthouse theaters? Wait, hold on, that’s actually not a bad idea.

Some of the women behind the shows in question have really hit the honey pot when it comes to this faux hubbub. Suburgatory creator Emily Kapnek told the NYT: “How could anyone take issue? It’s not like vagina should be perceived as a dirty word.”

Leave it to beaver to be too much for TV audiences to handle. Or perhaps you think The New York Times is just pussy footing around the real issue. Women’s bodies parts aren’t scandalous, America, but they can be kind of funny — in the right context. Also, anyone else suddenly hungry for tacos? Discuss.

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