In the latest at-home episode of Full Frontal, Samantha Bee addressed the unfair toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on women.
“Specifically I want to talk about how coronavirus is affecting the ladies,” Bee said. “The answer is not great. For starters, women are more likely than men to have jobs that put them at greater risk of infection, like cashiers, pharmacy workers and flight attendants.” She added, “Flight attendants have a difficult job in the best of circumstances. But right now the only people flying are doctors, scientists and one full idiot who’s refusing to cancel his bachelor party.”
She went on to discuss how nurses are the most at risk – and how most nurses are women – and played a few clips of nurses desperate for more PPE. “This is bullshit,” Bee responded. “Healthcare workers are putting their lives on the line to save ours. They shouldn’t be forced to protect themselves using stuff they found in their garage.”
In the clip, Bee talked about the imbalance male and female roles in the home, the issue of women being forced to give birth alone and the impact of coronavirus on undocumented domestic workers. “At least there’s less laundry because everyone’s wearing the same sweatpants for 14 days in a row,” Bee quipped.
Bee also aired an interview with Stacey Abrams, which was shot pre-pandemic, where the pair discussed the 2020 election and how the Democratic party could amp up voter enthusiasm, especially among minority voters.
As a bonus, the Full Frontal team did their part in encouraging viewers to fill out the census. Rapper and filmmaker TT the Artist created a video to urge everyone to stay home and finish their census, with some help from Full Frontal animators Daniel Spenser and Cassidy Routh.
“You have 10 minutes right now,” Bee noted ahead of the song. “You don’t need all day to take Instagram photos of your busted up bread. You know you can still buy bread, right? It’s not toilet paper.”
