If you haven’t heard of “Call Her Daddy” by now, you must be living under a rock. The podcast, produced by none other than the Barstool Sports franchise, boasts 1.1 million followers on Instagram and has taken the world by storm with its raunchy and incredibly comedic content. The weekly, hour or so long podcast, released every Wednesday, is hosted by Sofia Franklyn and Alexandra Cooper. The hosts are a duo of women in their mid-20’s living in New York who “exploit” every, and I mean every, aspect of their lives for their podcast, from sex tips to how to get away with cheating to their stories from college.
As an avid listener of late, I look forward to every Wednesday when a new “Call Her Daddy” episode is released. Sofia and Alex are absolute crack-ups, and I find myself frequently laughing out loud while listening to the girls relaying the most intimate aspects of their lives in the most hilarious ways possible. These women are not afraid of holding anything back from the “Daddy Gang,” as they have termed their listeners, and do so with the utmost amount of confidence. They are definitely not afraid to laugh at themselves. Their unfiltered personalities and mostly relatable stories are what skyrocketed the podcast to fame and what makes it increasingly popular among women and men alike.
However, “Call Her Daddy” has received controversial reviews for its portrayal of women. A common quote from the podcast tells women to “die for that d*ck” when trying to receive sexual attention from men. The brutal honesty that Sofia and Alex use to advise their listeners can be harsh to some. Although I understand this view, I believe that the podcast as a whole promotes female agency, especially in the realm of sex and dating where it is typically dominated by men. Sofia and Alex demonstrate the ways that a woman can be in charge of her relationship and her sexuality. They aggressively break the stigma that a woman should only aim to please a man and should not be able to enjoy sex for herself. In an uncommon and crazy way, they empower women by advising them on how to feel confident and sexy in the bedroom. They encourage women to own who they are and their desires. It’s a “women’s locker-room conversation that we should be able to have” says Cooper. The podcast provides women with a necessary space to talk about the things that have been deemed as improper for women to discuss, although it is typically accepted for men.
“Call Her Daddy” also brings women together and unites them in their experiences. The podcast has generated group discussions that have become a sort of modern take on a book club. My friends and I, without any formal planning, end up discussing the episode every week. Our “‘Call Her Daddy’ Book Club” is probably one of the strongest ways that I bond with my friends. There are few other times that I laugh so hard that I swear a six pack will reveal itself than in these talks which involve hilarious moments like reenactments of sex positions and conversations about Alex and Sofia’s stories that prompt the retelling of stories of our own. The strong sense of womanhood among my friends when we talk about the podcast is unlike anything else, and we ultimately have “Call Her Daddy” to thank.
All in all, if you want to laugh out loud and hear two hilarious women “exploit the f*ck out of their crazy lives,” then give “Call Her Daddy” a try on the podcast app or Spotify and see what the wild Daddy Gang is raving about.