Skip to main content

Politics & Power Quote by Tina Fey

"An interim government was set up in Afghanistan. It included two women, one of whom was Minister of Women's Affairs. Man, who'd she have to show here ankles to to get that job?"

About this Quote

The joke lands like a slap because it mimics the oldest, laziest explanation men reach for when a woman gets power: she must have traded sex for it. Fey’s line weaponizes that reflex, then pivots it through the Afghan context where the very premise collapses. In a place where women have been policed for showing skin, “show her ankles” is a surgically chosen detail: it’s absurdly modest, culturally specific, and instantly exposes how sexualized suspicion doesn’t require actual sexuality. Any scrap of female visibility gets framed as seduction.

The intent isn’t to take a cheap shot at Afghan politics so much as to indict a global misogyny that travels well. Fey performs the voice of the guy at the bar - “Man” as a whole demographic, not just an interjection - and lets the ugliness of that default assumption do the work. The laughter comes from recognition and discomfort: you’re hearing an attitude you’ve encountered, maybe even internalized, rendered grotesque by being placed against a society where “ankles” can be a scandal.

The subtext is that women’s legitimacy is perpetually conditional, forever treated as a conspiracy with a body attached. The line also needles Western self-satisfaction: even when we congratulate ourselves for progress (“two women!”), we still reach for the same cynical narrative that reduces women’s competence to access. Fey’s comedy isn’t comforting; it’s a mirror held at a cruelly funny angle.

Quote Details

TopicSarcastic
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Fey, Tina. (2026, January 17). An interim government was set up in Afghanistan. It included two women, one of whom was Minister of Women's Affairs. Man, who'd she have to show here ankles to to get that job? FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/an-interim-government-was-set-up-in-afghanistan-63683/

Chicago Style
Fey, Tina. "An interim government was set up in Afghanistan. It included two women, one of whom was Minister of Women's Affairs. Man, who'd she have to show here ankles to to get that job?" FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/an-interim-government-was-set-up-in-afghanistan-63683/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"An interim government was set up in Afghanistan. It included two women, one of whom was Minister of Women's Affairs. Man, who'd she have to show here ankles to to get that job?" FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/an-interim-government-was-set-up-in-afghanistan-63683/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Tina Add to List
Tina Fey on Afghan women and the ankles metaphor
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

USA Flag

Tina Fey (born May 18, 1970) is a Comedian from USA.

8 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

Victoria Woodhull, Activist
Lakhdar Brahimi, Diplomat
Lakhdar Brahimi