When Good Girls Stay Good

In an age where The Real Housewives of Atlanta is considered must-see TV, it's refreshing (and reassuring) to see wit and politics catapult a woman to the dizzying heights of stardom.

Tina Fey graces the cover of this month's issue of Vanity Fair and the Maureen Dowd profile reveals a simple yet steadfast woman seeking not success but satisfaction.

Though she talks about her past weight issues and drab dating life (Hooray for not losing your virginity before you can vote), the Annie Leibovitz photos are smoking with red stilettos, some naughty nibbling of glasses (Thank you Tina for showing the world that there is something sexy about a four-eyed brunette) and what looks to me like a near-wardrobe malfunction.

In Broadsheet's view, this can either be construed as "depressing (a brilliant comic mind inevitably reduced to shaking her cleavage)" or "empowering (a brilliant comic mind finally shaking her cleavage!)" I'm leaning toward the latter. Let's face it, sex is part of society. So why not sell it tastefully, with brains and principle to back it up?

I'll admit, I didn't know a lot about Fey before reading this piece and the her 2003 New Yorker profile. I've seen an episode or two of 30 Rock, but am not an avid follower (then again my TV watching has all but died since high school). But she's now rapidly ascending the list of people I want to be.

In an age where it's so easy to be wild, she sticks to her guns. She didn't drink in college but freely writes sketches about whores and dropped the f-bomb in both articles.

Yes, I'm a good girl, but I'd be lying if I said I've never wanted to just completely let loose. Fey said it beautifully: “I only have two speeds— either matronly or a little too slutty."

But who cares what you are as long as you're happy with it? Confidence is the most attractive quality in a person. And while other people may say I'm confident, too often I agonize over what other people think of my actions more than what I think of them. Peer pressure is hard to handle, but then it's people like Fey who remind me that being who you are will all pay off some day.