Eat, Pray, Queef

"Eat, Pray, Queef"

"Eat, Pray, Queef" is the fourth episode of the thirteenth season of the animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 1, 2009. In the episode, the men of South Park become infuriated when the fart-joke oriented Terrance and Phillip show is preempted by the Queef Sisters, a show focused on queef jokes. The women of South Park accuse the men of holding a sexist double standard when it comes to women queefing and men farting. The episode has a pro-feminist theme and ultimately suggests men and women should be treated as equals.

The episode was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It received generally positive reviews and, according to Nielsen Ratings, was seen by more than three million viewers in its original airing, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. The title is a reference to the Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love; the episode also included references to Martha Stewart and the Road Warrior film.

Plot

The boys of South Park Elementary School are anxiously awaiting the night's episode of Terrance and Phillip, which ended in a twist last season, while the girls at the school express disgust over the show and the boys' obsession with fart jokes. When the boys gather to watch the show, they are unhappy to find that as an April Fools Day joke, the channel is airing a new show called the Queef Sisters, about Canadian sisters Katherine and Katie Queef. They are very similar to Terrance and Phillip, but instead of fart jokes, they make queef jokes. The show starts a queefing movement across the country, and men everywhere get upset and disgusted by the queefs. Though the women of South Park argue that there is no difference between queefing and farting, the men are revolted by queefs while still finding their own farts amusing.

As a joke, one of the girls at school queefs on Butters's face, causing him to run screaming out of the school building. The other boys are shocked and their fathers, outraged, go to the Colorado General Assembly and demand a law banning queefing, much to the anger of the town's women. Meanwhile, the Queef Sisters appear on Regis and Kelly to promote their book Eat, Pray, Queef, and Terrance and Philip's show gets canceled due to the rising popularity of the Queef Sisters. Terrance and Philip attempt to kill the Queef Sisters, but the plan backfires when they end up becoming attracted to them after the Queef Sisters mentioned that both Terrence and Phillip were the sisters' idols. They pair off into couples and travel the Canadian Wine Country together. Meanwhile, Stan's mother Sharon and sister Shelley start queefing at the dinner table, causing Stan and his father Randy to leave.

Feeling sorry for Butters, the South Park boys testify in the case in the Colorado State Senate about the girl who queefed on Butters. A debate on the senate floor culminates with a female senator queefing exact lines of dialog from the Road Warrior film. The next day, the newspapers announce that the queefing ban has passed. As Stan and his father Randy celebrate, Sharon and Shelley are hurt and insulted by the decision, describing it as an example of sexism that still pervades in society. Stan and Randy finally understand the issue was not simply about queefing, but a larger point about women's rights. The two get all the South Park men together and record an inspirational song called "Queef Free", declaring women should have the right to queef, while photographs of women working various careers are displayed on a television screen. Terrance and Philip, despite a continued disgust with the constant queefing, attempt to marry the two Queef Sisters. The vicar leaves the ceremony in disgust as the couples repeatedly fart and queef on him, pronouncing them "Farts and Queefs" as he leaves.

Production and cultural references

"Eat, Pray, Queef" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker. It first aired on April 1, 2009 in the United States on Comedy Central. The episode uses the characters' conflicting responses to the comedic value of farts and queefs to demonstrate a double standard between rights of men and women, even in the 21st century, as both genders hold unfair opinions toward the other sex. The episode suggests men and women are, and should be, equals and has a pro-feminist message.

The book Eat, Pray, Queef by the Queef Sisters, which is also the source of the episode's title, is a satirical reference to the book Eat, Pray, Love written by Elizabeth Gilbert. There is a brief scene in which television host Martha Stewart provides instruction on ways to decorate queefs on The Martha Stewart Show. Television show hosts Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa interview Katie and Katherine on their show, Live with Regis and Kelly. One of the queefs released by a woman in the episode includes exact dialogue from the 1981 action film The Road Warrior.

Within the episode, The Canada Channel announces that, as an April Fools' Day prank, it will be airing the new Queef Sisters show instead of the much-anticipated part two episode of Terrance and Phillip. This is a reference to the South Park second season premiere. Instead of the expected follow-up to "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut", in which the identity of Cartman's father was to be revealed, Parker and Matt Stone showed the episode "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus", a Terrance and Phillip-centered episode as an April Fools' Day prank. The move infuriated South Park fans.

Reception

A preview clip of the episode listed in on South Park Studios, the official South Park website, in the week before the episode's broadcast was viewed more than 50,000 times. In its original American broadcast, "Eat, Pray, Queef" was watched by three million overall viewers, according to the Nielsen Ratings, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. It had over one million more viewers than the second most-watched Comedy Central show that week, the April 1 episode of The Daily Show.

"It’s women’s rights, South Park style. The message was sound: men and women are equal. The delivery: disturbingly hilarious."

Carlos Delgado,
If magazine

Niki Payne of the Philadelphia Examiner said "Eat, Pray, Queef" was "probably one of my all-time favorite episodes of South Park right now" because it was so on point concerning the double standards between men and women; she particularly praised the scene in which Stan and Randy are disgusted and uncomfortable when Stan's mom and sister started queefing at the dinner table. Aemilia Scott of The Huffington Post said of the episode, "I don't think I've ever seen a better argument for feminism on mainstream television." Carlos Delgado of If Magazine said the episode was "shocking, disgusting and obscenely funny" and demonstrated South Park's ability to tackle any type of issue "in a uniquely South Park manner". He particularly enjoyed the Martha Stewart segment, which he described as "just haunting". Josh Modell of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B grade; although Modell said the Katie and Katherine cartoon was particularly funny, but that queefing was referred to in so many jokes that it became a bit tired by the end.

Some reviewers were less laudatory. Travis Fickett of IGN said the episode was "a textbook example of a disappointing South Park". He said the jokes were predictable, lazy, boring, and that Terrance and Phillip are not funny enough to carry large portions of an episode.

External links

• "Eat, Pray, Queef" at Southparkstudios.com
• "Eat, Pray, Queef" at IMDb
• "Eat, Pray, Queef" at TV.com