Don't call me 'totty'
Why Jo Brand dresses down
Female stand-ups who dress as ‘proper women’ don’t get any respect, Jo Brand has claimed.
The 47-year-old comic says she deliberately dressed down on stage so she wouldn’t be seen as ‘a bit of totty’.
In an interview with the new Radio Times, she said: “I’ve seen female comics go on stage as proper women and they just get treated with no respect whatsoever. They’re just a bit of totty up there for blokes to go, ‘Oh, look at your tits’ at.
“So I tried to be as neutral as possible in big black T-shirts and leggings… trying to look asexual from the neck down… so that wouldn’t be an issue.
“Once people have looked at you and decided they don’t want to sleep with you, you can earn Brownie points for other things. If you’re an ugly bloke you can get extra points for having money, being funny, having a good car – whatever.
“Women can get points in the same way – it helps if you’re a bit of a laugh – but not to the same extent.”
Published: 15 Feb 2005
