Here's What Really Makes Amy Schumer's "Catch a Dick" Speech So Great

If anyone is going to upend the expectations about what women can say about sex, it's going to be Amy Schumer.

The comedian, who has been aggressively breaking down barriers and gender norms on this season of her Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer, went guns blazing into her latest acceptance speech. While accepting the Trailblazer Award at this week's Glamour Women of the Year event, Schumer noted how the ceremony seemed to be "loving real people" this year. That's when Schumer got even realer about her own body and sex life: 

"I'm like 160 pounds right now, and I can catch a dick whenever I want."

"That's the truth. It's not a problem. It's not a problem," Schumer added. 

Words matter: While Schumer's joke might be crass, that's the point — and it's more important than we realize. "Catch a dick" is the type of offhanded but sexually charged phrase we'd normally hear from a man, someone who "scores" or "totally banged" someone or "blow your load."

By using "catch a dick" (which, let's just note, is an excellent phrase) to note her weight doesn't make her less sexually desirable, Schumer is co-opting the language of objectification and giving herself sexual agency. In a culture where women still refrain from boldly talking about their sexuality in and out of the bedroom, and where women are hesitant to use typically male words (see: "jerk off"), Schumer's frankness is not only hilarious — it's empowering.

Thankfully, this is par for the course for Schumer. At this year's MTV Movie Awards, she was doling out jokes about embracing female masturbation. And notably, at the 2014 Gloria Awards and Gala, Schumer spoke of women determining their own self worth:

 "I am a woman with thoughts and questions and shit to say. I say if I'm beautiful. I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story — I will. I will speak and share and fuck and love, and I will never apologize to the frightened millions who resent that they never had it in them to do it. I stand here and I am amazing, for you. Not because of you. I am not who I sleep with. I am not my weight. I am not my mother. I am myself."

This bold and highly NSFW speech may come across as just another one of Schumer's comic sets, but it's saying something much richer. When it comes to sex, women have the power too.

Here is Schumer's speech in full: