Amy Schumer has spent more than a decade cultivating her fierce, feminist voice. Now, with her hit Comedy Central show cracking up women everywhere, and her autobiographical movie Trainwreck set to hit theaters July 17, she tells the person who knows her best—her sister, writer Kim Caramele—how it feels to have all eyes on her. "Oh my God," she deadpans. "I'll cross my legs."
Read an excerpt of her cover interview below. To read the full interview, pick up the August issue of Glamour on newsstands July 14, subscribe, or download it for your tablet now!
KIM CARAMELE: So I think readers would like to know how you feel about having become this new feminist icon. Do you want to be a new face of feminism—and if so, what responsibilities come with that role?
AMY SCHUMER: It was very unexpected. I don't try to be feminist. I just am. It's innately inside me. I have no interest in trying to be the perfect feminist, but I do believe feminists are in good hands with me.
KC: You call out sexism in your comedy. Where does that inclination come from?
AS: Every woman deals with it most every day of their lives. Growing up, it's just in your day-to-day. There are all these preconceived notions of what it means to be a woman or a girl, and straying from those ideas of femininity is sort of shocking to people. I felt angered by that as a kid. I felt like that was unjust. Like that was not right.
KC: Do you have any examples of sexism you've faced in your career?
AS: I was headlining at a comedy club, and you saw one of the security guards, who had always been so nice to me, saying, "Amy's so successful now. I wonder how she got that?" and then pretending to give a blow job. And you confronted him, right?
KC: I remember. I was like, "Don't say that about her—that's not true." And he was like, "Oh, no, that's just how we joke!"
AS: Yeah, that sh-t. And the whole "Who did she sleep with?" to get whatever? I've never slept with anyone who could help me at all. No one. I wish I had. If anything, everyone I've had sex with has been a real step in the wrong direction. [Laughs.]
KC: Do you think people hear your comedy and assume that they can joke with you in a specific way? Not that that's an excuse.
AS: I think anybody who's smart and who knows me can see that that's an act and this is not. I'm very clear with my boundaries. I had a comedian one time pull me onto his lap, and I said, "Never do that to me again. You and I are not gonna play like that." I hope I do influence other women to set better boundaries for themselves.
KC: I learned that from you. I used to just get angry. But now I know if people don't know better, it's fine to tell them.
AS: You've got to be vocal. You let people know. Their ego's a little bruised. Then they adapt.
KC: Is it scary to be a woman who's using her voice the way you do?
AS: I have gotten death threats—that was scary. But it just made me want to use my voice more.
KC: Sometimes people describe you as somebody who doesn't care what anybody else thinks. But I don't think that's true.
AS: I care about what the people I care about think about me. It's a short list, but I really care about what those people think.
KC: After your amazing speech at the Glamour U.K. Women of the Year Awards [in which Schumer said, "I'm probably like 160 pounds right now, and I can catch a dick whenever I want"], one commenter on YouTube wrote, "If a man talked about catching pussy, the media would be calling him a chauvinistic pig." What do you think about that?
AS: I think they're right. If a guy was like, "I can get pussy whenever I want," that guy would be a dickhead. But to deny that there's a major difference is ridiculous. For women, we're taught to eat less until we disappear. And trained to believe that if you don't look like everyone else, then you're unlovable. And men are not trained that way. Men can look like whatever and still date a supermodel. I'm proud of what I said. I think it's good to see somebody saying: I have a belly. And I have cellulite. And I still deserve love. And to catch the old D. And to not apologize.
KC: What moments shaped how you feel about the way you look?
AS: I remember feeling very beautiful and not even thinking about it. In fifth grade, this boy, a friend, was like, "You have a big butt." That was the first time it occurred to me that people were shaped different. In sixth grade I had a new outfit—tight pants and a tight ribbed shirt—and [another boy] was like, "Whoa, Big Bertha." I was like, "Oh, big, that's not good." But then when I was a freshman, I heard the senior boys were coming to our volleyball games because they liked how I looked in booty shorts. So I got feedback on both ends of the spectrum. But I had good confidence.
KC: What should we do if we're not so confident? What do you do?
AS: Appearance has so little to do with where we should get our confidence from. But everywhere we turn we're told we're supposed to look this certain way. Sometimes I don't know the difference between J.Lo or Beyonce or Kim Kardashian, if I look quickly! I have looked at myself in the mirror and thought, This is how you look. Embrace that and move on. And Leesa Evans, who was the costume designer on Trainwreck, explained that the way clothes fall on people is never right just out of the gate. You have to get them fixed! But confidence has nothing to do with how you look. I feel happiest when I'm with friends and I'm working really hard.
KC: How can we have fun with fashion without judging one another?
AS: Not everyone's wired to understand how to dress. I don't have that chip. I've sometimes not even wanted to leave the house because I can't find an outfit. I feel best when someone who knows what they're doing and knows me has dressed me. So ask a friend!
KC: There are a lot of eyes on you right now.
AS: Right now? Oh my God. I'll cross my legs.
KC: You have a lot of influence. How do you want to use that power?
AS: I just want to get the most money I can.
KC: Babe.
AS: Sorry. I want to make women laugh. I want to make them feel beautiful in their own skin. I want to empower them to use their voice and not apologize. And I want a jet.
For more of Amy Schumer's take on how her career has impacted her dating life, as well as her "perfect day" (hint: it involves Tom Hardy), pick up the August issue of Glamour on newsstands starting July 14, subscribe now, or download the digital edition.
