Frontier: Is Comedy the Last

¶ … Frontier: Is Comedy the Last Frontier of Sexism/Feminism?

Humor: The last frontier of sexism?

A woman has served as Secretary of State -- but can women be funny? It might seem that women have broken down virtually every barrier that exists in the workforce. The idea of allowing women to serve on the front lines of combat is now being debated as a very serious question in the public discourse. But the old question remains: can women be funny? Of course, women have frequently served as the object of humor, such as the zany Lucy in I Love Lucy or the fat old nurse in Romeo and Juliet. But the question of whether women themselves can be the orchestrators of humor is still debated.

In 2007, the British pundit Christopher Hitchens wrote an article for Vanity Fair entitled. "Why Women Aren't Funny." "Precisely because humor is a sign of intelligence (and many women believe, or were taught by their mothers, that they become threatening to men if they appear too bright), it could be that in some way men do not want women to be funny. They want them as an audience, not as rivals."[footnoteRef:1] Humor, in other words, is a male wooing tool, and men feel uncomfortable if women seem to master humor, much the way in which some men feel unsettled when they meet a woman who can change a tire on a car. [1: Christopher Hitchens, "Why women aren't funny," Vanity Fair, January 2007, Available: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/01/hitchens200701 [19 Apr 2013]]

Of course, those who would protest Hitchens' analysis would note that many extremely frank female comedians now have laudable careers. The Korean-American comedian Margaret Cho, for example, is well-known for her uncensored, tell-it-like-it-is style. Cho frequently makes fun of homophobia, fat phobia, and her parents.[footnoteRef:2] Cho is not an object of humor: her humor lies in the fact that she turns the stereotypes of modern society around that could hurt her into weapons. Another comedian, Lisa Lampanelli, is well-known for being the queen of insults, and is unafraid to make politically incorrect jokes when on the stage. However, these comedians could be seen as 'proving' Hitchens' points as much as circumventing them, because both of them are comfortably outside the conventional stereotypes of femininity. Margaret Cho is Asian; Lampanelli is overweight. So long as women 'act male' in some fashion, by setting themselves outside of the bounds of conventional male desire, then they can be funny. [2: "Margaret Cho: Profiles," Finding Your Roots, PBS, 2013 Available: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/profiles/margaret-cho/]

Such a claim would seem to ignore the extremely sexualized nature of both comedians' acts. They are aggressively, openly sexual in their use of language when discussing their relationships with men -- but once again, it could be argued that they are aggressive 'as a man,' and thus their humor functions at least in part as male impersonation. The question of whether a woman who is also considered desirable can be funny is a more vexing one, and perhaps the question should be rephrased if a beautiful woman can be considered funny. The cast of Friends featured many beautiful women who were funny, as did more recently the cast of Bridesmaids. Tina Fey of Saturday Night Live fame and 30 Rock is a conventionally tall, beautiful brunette and has made a career as a writer of humor as well as a comedic actress.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Katy Brand, "So can a woman be beautiful and funny," the Telegraph, 1 Oct 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9571880/So-can-a-woman-be-beautiful-and-funny.html [19 Apr 2013]]