Emily Fox is a single parent raising two kids, working full time and using comedy to inspire herself and others.
She loves and empowers herself as a woman. She embraces the idea that it is OK to have sex and that women should not be ashamed. She also takes on depression and battling suicidal desires. Above all, she is a devoted parent to her two kids.
Between open mic nights and booked shows, Fox has performed more than 60 shows in Utah. She draws on inspiration from everyday life to fuel her jokes, telling stories about herself and her dating life.
Fox writes her own material and practices regularly. Before a show she will perform at several open mic nights to gauge the jokes for her upcoming performance. Her particular genre is comedy—family friendly and clean. Her one joke that resembles something sexual is about her genuine love of pickles.
Despite the stigma against women who have many sexual partners, she believes a woman shouldn’t be ashamed to have sex. She views herself as an independent modern woman, not looking for the white picket fence life but the right person to share the adventure of life with.
To other women out there using sex for acceptance, Fox says, “It’s not going to work. You need to love yourself, and you need to accept yourself. There are good guys out there, they exist.”
Fox uses the comedy stage to entertain other people and to inspire them. Throughout her life she has struggled, but she expresses herself through humor and this brings joy to other people.
Fox talks about the history of her childhood and watching her mother’s choices and the consequences of them. She is determined not to make the same mistakes.
However, she says she unconditionally loves her mother. Fox never knew her father and has come to terms with this. She realized with her own two kids that the best thing she can do is provide for them and keep their father in their lives.
Still, Fox wishes she knew who her father was so she would know where she comes from. It’s a matter of her identity, she said.
“I’d like to look at the man’s face just to see me,” Fox said.
At one point in her life, Fox sank into depression and got to a point in her life where she fell into a dark place. “I thought about death daily,” she said.
She asked the children’s father to care for them for a while. When she started getting better, she talked with the father about the custody of the children, and he refused to let her see them. Battling him in court, she went six weeks before she was able to see her kids. What kept her from committing suicide then was the thought of someone having to clean her place up.
“I can’t do it today,” Fox recalls thinking. “I need to clean my apartment, and someone would have to clean up after me if I did it.
“I would focus on my budget as something to help focus on something daily that is productive.”
Despite the setbacks and hardships, she forges forward, inspiring women to love themselves; letting them know it’s OK to be independent and they don’t need to be attached to someone to be whole. Sex is fun and they should not be ashamed of enjoying it, nor should they have to have sex to be accepted. The circumstances of your life do not dictate who you are.
