-Maryon Pearson-
Feminism is the belief in the political, social, and economic equality of women. Women seeking change in this country have accomplished forms of equality through feminist movements. Feminism is considered to be divided into 3 movements. The first movement was legal equality, the second was socioeconomic equality, and the third was ultimate equality. The first movement works towards giving women basic human rights. For example, at the beginning of the twentieth century, women finally gained grounds to vote in 1920.(Gwyn Kirk)
This was only the start of women uniting to change oppression against women. There was a large increase in the number of female writers in this time period. A large portion of that writing contained feminist humor with such writers as Margaretta Newell and Mary Austin. Both of these writers had prominent articles written in that time that reflected on women’s roles in society.(Gwyn Kirk)
The second part of the movement involved women changing their roles in society. An example seen of this was in the 1940s and 1950s. At that time women entered the workplace due to a lack of men for the war effort. This shift in socioeconomic role forever changed the idea that women were meant solely to remain at home and be house wives. This is when the fight for equality in the workplace began.(Gwyn Kirk)
Women worked in terrible conditions and for less money than men. Men were terrified by womens' eagerness to work and get an education. Even today, women are paid $.77 to every man’s $1. The right for women to get an education has been sought after by women to attain equality in social status. We discussed this when reading about Nancy Walker and the idea that education withered the body and would cause problems in child bearing. Men were threatened by women’s intellect.(Gwyn Kirk)
Feminist humor rose from the feminist movement. Women began using humor as a tool for their frustration. In the beginning, men thought women were not worthy of being humorous and women who did write with humor were considered unwomanly and masculine. Humor theorist, Nancy Walker, says that humor was seen as unusual from women because women are considered to be emotional. Women were meant to be quiet and subordinate. For that reason, women often wrote under pen names so their voices could be heard. Men frequently would refuse to read something they knew a woman wrote.(Walker)
In more modern day, feminist humor is still prevalent but has a very different style. Women still find a lot of use of humor on topics which are considered based towards women such as working in the home and home life. For example, Julia Slavin’s novel is set in a suburban area and deals with the mom, Wendy, and her son, Dylan. Many women still find the use of comedy as a means for getting attention on a true issue. Female humorists use several different types of discourse to practice their humor. One style rising in popularity is “stand-up” performance. It is interesting to note, that women have made large strides but differences are still found. A female cannot publicly say that same things as a man without it being taken in a different way.
For example, men commonly use vulgar humor which is very explicit about sex. Very few female stand-up comedians can entertain a crowd with the same kind of vulgarity. If a crowd does respond to a woman’s use of that humor, it’s partially from the unusual nature of a woman being so vulgar in public. Women are still expected to be somewhat demure in hostile humor is rarely taken as well from a woman as it would be from a man. One female stand-up comedian both beloved and hated for her vulgar humor is Kathy Griffin. Roseanne Barr and Lisa Lampanelli are other prime examples of modern female humorists given negative reviews for their vulgar style. Also, Aimee Bender’s short story entitled, “Mother Fucker” caught every one’s attention because of the vulgarity of it; this was not an expected title from a woman.
Chelsea Handler
Many other female humorists take use of novels and short stories as a means for sharing their feminist humor. Feminism is based off of the idea of inequality. The use of irony or satire to reflect those ignored inequalities is popular in feminist writing. Chelsea Handler is a woman that has her own television show and has written a few books. Her works use lots of irony and satire while discussing the differences between men and women. She also goes for shock by blatantly discussing topics such as sex.
Nancy Walker states that women humor now deals with the perception of self. Lorrie Moore’s short stories from Self Help are a great example of humor relating the perception of the self. In the story “Go Like This,” a woman describes how she is planning her own suicide. Perception of the body is also common in feminist humor today, says Walker. “Skin Care,” a short story by Judy Budnitz discusses body image.
Feminist Humor is always evolving. Watch how different these two comics are.
Another common tool seen in feminist humor is the flipping of common gender roles in a piece of work for comic effect. Our laughter in those instances recognizes our pre conceived notions of female versus male roles in society. Both male and female humorists comment on the differences between men and women. Male humorists tend to make their commentary with a demeaning tone towards women. The inappropriateness of their tone in modern times gives them a shock value earning a laugh. Female humorists tend to make their commentary with a frustrated tone. They can comment on a range of issues; whether it is social inequality or lack of chivalry in modern day.(Stillon)
In the beginning feminist humor was needed as a way of bringing around major social change. In modern day feminist humor is focused towards overall equality. Modern feminist humor may not always be directly attacking the gap between men and women. In modern day, feminist humor is seen more when women refuse to line up to their established societal role.
Sources:
"Ellen Degeneres-One Night Stand part 1." YouTube. 22 Nov. 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVy3m8retZE
Gwyn Kirk and Margot Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: A Multicultural Approach. McGraw Hill Companies Inc. 2007 New York.
"Last Comic Standing-Iliza Schlesinger." YouTube. 22 Nov. 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1cT_w6wvzk&feature=related
Stillion, Judith. Feminist Humor: who appreciates it and why. Psychology of women quarterly, 11 (2): 219-232.
Walker, Nancy. "A Very Dangerous Thing." http://www.blackboard.uc.edu
Created By:
Katie Frisbee, Missy Feltz, Samantha Speiles, Jeanette Digiovenale
2 comments:
Thank you for this insightful overview of feminism and it’s relation to humor. I enjoyed reading it. (Side note: I think you might rely too heavily on one primary resource (Gwen Kirk), and you don’t always fully connect or explore the ideas you bring up. For instance, women were writing well before 1920; could you have given some brief context about the writers you cite?) That said, you did well to outline some of the aims/projects of feminism before diving into the idea of feminist humor, which is some important groundwork to lay.
I found your argument that “A female cannot publicly say that same things as a man without it being taken in a different way” to be a really interesting one. And I wonder if you can make this connection to any works we’ve read for class? Since you mentioned “Mother Fucker,” what do you think of the “vulgar” title of the story versus the rather sweet, semi-sentimental she presents us with. Is there a connection, or does she try to draw on vulgarity in some way so as to reverse readers expectations?
You write, “Nancy Walker states that women humor now deals with the perception of self. Lorrie Moore’s short stories from Self Help are a great example of humor relating the perception of the self. In the story “Go Like This,” a woman describes how she is planning her own suicide. Perception of the body is also common in feminist humor today, says Walker. “Skin Care,” a short story by Judy Budnitz discusses body image.” These are all great kernels of ideas; however, I wonder if you might have spent more time addressing the works read for the class and less time summarizing feminism, in general. It’s all interesting stuff; yet, you seem to offer really compelling ideas, then fall short of assessment. For instance, you write: “Another common tool seen in feminist humor is the flipping of common gender roles in a piece of work for comic effect.” Do you see this at work in any of our writers from this quarter? Do you think the authors we’ve read are interested in the feminist project? Or, do you believe, instead, that they are just women writing humorous content.
Be sure to review how to cite within a text. Also, be sure to make a clear connection to multimedia content. Overall, some very interesting ideas.
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