Girls Aren’t Funny

A few years ago Comedy Central put out a list of the 100 Funniest stand-up comedians of all time. I find most top 10, 25, 100 or so lists kind of ridiculous. How do you really rank who is the sexiest, most outrageous, most shocking, or even the cutest child star? Whose opinion do these lists represent? Isn’t it kind of subjective, given that there is no exact formula for calculating sexy, cute, or funny? Still people (self included) eat these lists up. We watch networks based on ranking celebrities (yes I’m talking to you E!). So despite there inherent absurdity, these lists inform a lot of people who/what is number 1.

Nine females made the cut on the list of 100 funniest comedians. Nine out of a hundred. So if I were to extrapolate this number out is Comedy Central trying to tell me that out of the funniest people in the world 10% are female? I’ll hold out on letting this list dictate any major conclusions I make, especially given that Jeff Foxworthy and Sinbad have somehow found there way on it (like I said, humor is subjective, in my opinion Jeff Foxworthy is the least funny person ever). Still I do think it is important to give it a look.

Rosanne Barr was the top female on the list at number 9. The only other females to crack the top 50 were Ellen DeGeneres, Phyllis Diller, and Joan Rivers. In the back half of the list are Wanda Sykes, Brett Butler, Paula Poundstone, Sandra Bernhard and Janeane Garofalo. Bernhard and Garofalo barely made the cut, squeaking by at numbers 97 and 99 respectively. So what are we to do with this list? What does it say about the women deemed successful in stand up comedy? I was reading one diatribe on the list that noted that one of the women is traditionally “feminine”. This calls to mind Hitchens claim that the only funny women are “fat, dykey, or Jewish”. These women can then be fast-talking, crude, aggressive, self deprecating and sarcastic. So is Hitchens right? To be funny do we have to sacrifice our femininity? Maybe I’ve been thinking about the question in the wrong way all along, maybe its not that females can’t be funny, it’s that “girls” can’t.

Another way to think about this question is by looking at the specific medium for humor. Who is supposed to be laughing? A lot of the time it feels like stand up comedy is directed at men. Even when there are plenty of females in the audience, whenever I watch Comedy Central I feel like the comedians are talking to men. So maybe that’s why women have such a hard time breaking through, because it is harder for them to capitalize on male-centric humor. So where is the humor directed at women? I mean just because we aren’t funny doesn’t mean that we should be denied laughter, right?

An answer came to (or more specifically was advertised to) me while I was watching TBS the other day. An ad came on for Sex and the City reruns in syndication (on basic cable so all the city, about half the sex). I grew up in the Sex and the City generation. My friends and I were too young to watch it when it first premiered but boy did we eat it up on DVD. We’ve seen all the episodes, we can name all the boyfriends, and we’ve taken online quizzes that tell us whether we are a Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda or Carrie. Heck we know enough about the show to play the trivia game.

The tagline of the commercial was “it’s not just for women”. The network doesn’t really have to advertise to women, it knows they watch. Here’s the thing about Sex and the City, yes it’s about relationships and sex but a huge part of the show’s appeal is that it’s funny. When I think of humor directed at women, I think of Sex and the City. It’s not just that funny things happen to the women, it’s that they in themselves are hilarious. I wanted to be a Carrie not because of the ridiculous wardrobe and unreasonably good apartment, but because I wanted to be that quick with the one-liners. The humor is what kept me wanting more, even when the characters were overwhelmingly superficial, materialistic, or elitist. And it was humor delivered by women who were more stereotypically “feminine”.

So why does the humor delivered by more “feminine” women have to be directed towards females? One thing I have gotten from researching this blog as how polarized people think humor is supposed to be. The gross out comedies are for males, the romantic comedies for females. It seems however, in my opinion, that humor is most interesting and impressive when it aims for the middle ground, when it is not obviously gendered. Most of the time gendered humor rings easy and superficial, because it aims for generalizations and stereotypes. As a girl who not only loves to laugh, but loves to make other people laugh, I’d like to think I’m not restricted to my own gender. Is it to much for me to order humor, hold the gender?

About a month ago Paul Farhi of the Washington Post tackled the question of women’s place in comedy with the article “Rules of Game Different for Female Comedians”. The article begs the question “What are the factors behind so few females getting paid to be funny?” It’s almost like Mr. Farhi read my mind (or blog). The article starts with this frustrating but obvious observation: it does not take long to make a pretty all inclusive list of nationally known female comedians. Farhi comes up with about 25 in the past 40 years. When reading through his list there are few glaring omissions. So while this isn’t really new information the article does bring up an interesting issue: the connection between comedy and power.

Thankfully Mr. Farhi doesn’t waste article space with the “maybe women just aren’t funny” nonsense. He instead asks the more important question: what is wrong with society that women comics aren’t breaking through (because yes, there are plenty of hilarious women)? Comedian Eddie Brill has an interesting thought:

“My gut tells me that society doesn’t like to see a woman in power, and standing on a stage [telling jokes] is a powerful position. Some of the best comedians on the planet are female. But a lot of men are afraid to laugh at a woman. It sometimes can turn insecure men into even more insecure people.”

I’ve thought about this possibility but have had trouble articulating it. Is it true that men don’t really want women to be funny? And if this is the case are men insecure of women being funnier then them or of women being funny at all? Society tells us that men are supposed to be the funny ones so it is easy to see why a man might be intimidated by a woman who is obviously funnier. If men are supposed to be the “funny ones” it could be emasculating to be in the presence of a woman who is frankly better at comedy. I think there’s more to this theory though. It is easy to forget what a powerful tool humor is. Brill’s quote reminded me of that power. When you get someone laughing there is this feeling of dominance, of strength and mastery. So are men afraid of women having this kind of dominance over them? Is the “gender gap” in humor another case of men being threatened by female power?

Joan Rivers, who while nowadays often a caricature of herself is also a legendary comedian, talks about he effect this attitude has on potential female comedians. Here’s her theory: “”Most girls, when they’re young, realize that they don’t get attention for being funny”. Girls “want to be pretty or sexy. Funny isn’t sexy. Comedy isn’t sexy.” Could this be true? Are women keeping their humor in check because guys find it threatening and “unsexy”?

I struggle with this theory a little bit. Getting laughter can be the ultimate validation do women do so at the expense of their attractiveness? Someone like Sarah Silverman seems to stand in contradiction to this claim, but is one person really a negation or is she just an exception to the rule? This brings the power issue into question. Sexiness is sometimes seen as another way of having power over a man (as Cosmo and other women’s magazines so often tells me, I can use my feminine wiles to get what I want). So are women choosing one form of power(sexuality) at the expense of another(humor)? (more…)

I recently came upon this article about a female comedian right here in Amherst. Kim Deshields is an Amherst woman who won a chance to compete for the title of “America’s Funniest Mom”. She is one of 12 women on the 3rd season of the Nick at Nite reality show “Funniest Mom in America”. The women on the show compete for 50,000 dollars. In previous seasons the winner was also given a chance to develop a show for the network but the prize was scrapped by season three. Perhaps even America’s funniest mother couldn’t cut it in the world of novelty cable television?

The Amherst Bulletin article tries to address gender differences in comedy but Deshields kind of side steps the issue. She mentions that women tend to “get” some of her material a little more quickly. Her one other point is that female comedians are rarely “on” all the time the way male comedians are. They can shift out of performance mode. She calls being “on” all the time a “man thing”. The article moves quickly past this point but it’s an interesting one to think about. This could mean that men are more inclined to be funny all the time while women have to make a more conscious effort. I don’t think that’s what Deshields is insinuating with her statement though. By adding “people who are constantly testing material all the time are a drag” she isn’t exactly complimenting male comedians. I see it more as an observation that males feel more pressure to be funny all the time while females can relax when they aren’t on stage. Or maybe I am being biased in favor of my gender (I can own up to my tendencies).

The article sparked my interest in the competition itself. I found a video of the winner of season 1, Darlene Westgor, a single mom who was working in an ER.

Darlene’s humor is all about what it’s like to be a mother, specifically a single one in the suburbs. (more…)

Last Sunday at the Tribeca film festival there was a panel discussion directly addressing why men seem to get all the laughs in show business. Female comedians like Debra Messing, Rachael Dratch, and Samantha Bee served on the panel. Although the panelists were all female comedians each has a distinct appearance and comedic style. The discussion was more focused on big budget, mainstream comedy than anything small scale or subversive. Why, they were asked, are there no female counterparts to the Ben Stiller’s and Will Ferrell’s of the world, women who can guarantee a big opening weekend for a comedy no matter how stupid it is (case in point: Night at the Museum)? Where is the female Old School, Wedding Crashers, or Talladega Nights? Many of the panelists’ citied lack of quality material as a factor in the humor gap. So basically they are saying that we aren’t seeing many funny women precisely because people don’t think women are funny so there are few forums available for women to prove their comedic chops. Talk about a vicious cycle (not exactly revolutionary news but still it doesn’t hurt to reiterate).

Another big factor the panelists cited as keeping women out of the big money comedy game is their inability to get away with gross out or physical humor. There is a reason Will Ferrell seems to get naked in every movie he’s in. People think its funny, precisely because Ferrell is not conventionally attractive or shape. People will pay to see Will Ferrell naked, in all his hairy, beer gut glory. The same cannot be said for women who is not conventionally attractive or in shape. People may pay to see naked women, but it’s usually not for a laugh. The big news in the movie world the last few years has been the return of the R-rated comedy often full of crass humor (Wedding Crashers, 40 Year old Virgin). This kind of humor is seen as inherently masculine. We are in the golden age of the comedy “frat pack” and it seems to be a boys only club (hence the whole frat thing). As Rachel Dratch says “People want to see Will Ferrell fall down with no clothes on but they don’t want to see me do that”

Anyway interesting to hear it from women who have “made it” in the comedy world. Silly youtube doesn’t have a video of the discussion but there’s a brief clip next to the article. Enjoy.

While skimming through April’s Cosmo on the exercise bike I came upon an article entitled “What He Notices on a First Date”. The headline was accompanied by the hook “the things men make mental notes of will surprise you. Keep reading”. Seeing as the article was only one page, my exercise induced attention span was short and I was ready to be surprised (but skeptical, I’ve read enough Cosmo to know better) I took the authors advice and kept reading.

This came in the Man Manual section of the magazine, where women are treated to “His point of view”. It is specifically the point of view of author Chris Connolly but we are supposed to take it as universally applying to all men, especially those we are trying to impress on a first date. Lo and behold, the first “surprising” thing Connolly said men notice is “How You Reacted to his Jokes” with the following logic:

Look, not every guy is funny. But every guy thinks he’s funny. When you appreciate his comedic efforts, he feels good about himself…and good about you as well. “This girl I was out with kept laughing and smiling at my jokes,” recalls Everett, 33. “I liked being around her, and I’m sure it helped convince me that there was a connection forming between us.” Now, we’re not advocating fake belly laughs, but a giggle can go a long way. What’s even better? If you can crack him up in return (more…)

One point Christopher Hitchens makes in his ever so unbiased article “Why Women Aren’t Funny” is that men feel way more pressure to be funny then women. He starts his piece with the following paragraph:

Be your gender what it may, you will certainly have heard the following from a female friend who is enumerating the charms of a new (male) squeeze: “He’s really quite cute, and he’s kind to my friends, and he knows all kinds of stuff, and he’s so funny … ” (If you yourself are a guy, and you know the man in question, you will often have said to yourself, “Funny? He wouldn’t know a joke if it came served on a bed of lettuce with sauce béarnaise.”) However, there is something that you absolutely never hear from a male friend who is hymning his latest (female) love interest: “She’s a real honey, has a life of her own … [interlude for attributes that are none of your business] … and, man, does she ever make ‘em laugh.”

Basically Hitchens is saying that men have to funny to impress the opposite sex (which he takes care to note is the chief task in a man’s life). This assumption is to be taken as fact if you are to buy any of his ensuing arguments. An equally important aspect of Hitchen’s claim is that women don’t need to be funny, because that’s not what guys are looking for. He insinuates that while females are assessing the sense of humor of a potential mate, men are too busy looking at their love interests physical qualities (those attributes that are “none of your business”) Who needs a women to be funny if she has a nice rack right? (side note: not right, I like to give men a little more credit). So basically according to this article if men are looking to get laid, they better danm well be funny, while women can get byy on their physical attributes. I’ll let Hitchens elaborate a little further:

If you can stimulate her to laughter—I am talking about that real, out-loud, head-back, mouth-open-to-expose-the-full-horseshoe-of-lovely-teeth, involuntary, full, and deep-throated mirth; the kind that is accompanied by a shocked surprise and a slight (no, make that a loud) peal of delight—well, then, you have at least caused her to loosen up and to change her expression. I shall not elaborate further. (more…)

Like many Amherst students (or at least those not getting ready for senior ball) I went to lip-sync last Wednesday night. On my walk over my roommate told me about a friend of hers who was competing as a rising senior. We discussed where she would live if she won etc. At the end of conversation someone said “Its to bad she won’t win, girls don’t win lip-sync”. This was not a controversial statement, it was not said to disparage or denigrate our gender, it was just what we all recognized as the truth. I almost let the sentiment pass by without giving it much thought, until I had a light bulb moment (seriously if I was a cartoon a lightblub would have appeared in the thought bubble hovering over my head). Lip-sync is about humor, people (and I mean people, guys and girls alike) usually take for granted that the girls will not be as funny as guys. It was perfect blog fodder right here on campus. As we know this year turned out a little differently but I’ll get to that later.

So what is it about lip-sync that makes it such a male domain? So the basic premise of the competition is that a room group picks a song (or often times a medley of songs) and designs a performance around it. While in theory it could come down to who is the most in sync, who has the best dance moves or who gives the most convincing performance we all know what lip-sync is really about; who is the funniest? (more…)

Angry Woman

I just came upon this video when watching videos of Women from Saturday Night Live on youtube (Victoria Jackson was on the show for 3 years). It got me thinking about Hitchens assertion that most female comedians are “hefty or dykey or Jewish, or some combo of the three”, traits he feels make their comedy somehow more masculine. Jackson’s brand of comedy is about as far from masculine as you can get. She is representative of a contingent of comediennes Hitchens totally ignores, women who play on female stereotypes for comedic effect.

Jackson’s shitck here and throughout most of her SNL career was the dumb blonde. The wikipedia definition of a dumb blonde is a women who “while attractive and popular, lacks both common street-sense and academic intelligence, often to a comedic level”. Dumb blonde jokes are a mainstay in comedy (googling “Blonde Jokes” gives 1,160,000 results in a matter of seconds).

Jackson’s comedy seems to be that of a dumb blonde joke personified. Jackson was by no means the first women to play the dumb blonde in a comedic setting. Goldie Hawn became famous doing a similar routine on Laugh In. The dumb blonde stereotype does not have definitive orgins, but it is one we become familiar with at a younge age. As a blonde I heard my fair share of them growing up (side note: this is not a sob story about how traumatizing it is to be a blonde, these jokes are first and foremost generally not clever enough to be biting). What is interesting here is not the persona itself (generally one note and not that funny) but what it says about the options for women in comedy. (more…)

 The rise of Sarah Silverman was a huge inspiration for this blog. Sarah Silverman is the biggest female straight out comedian right now and her impact is important enough that it is going to take a few posts to address. Silverman has been around for a long time, on the stand up circuit and doing bit parts in movies, but has recently been launched into the mainstream with her movie Jesus is Magic and Comedy Central show The Sarah Silverman Program.

To say Sarah is controversial is an understatement. Her act deals with such societal taboos as race, religion, sexual abuse, abortion, and even 9/11. In her stage act and on her TV show Sarah addresses these issues by getting into the character the Observer calls the “Frankenstein Sarah Silverman”. She spews racial slurs, mocks AIDS, and jokes about rape. The claim is that through this absurd character Silverman is actually commenting on issues like racism and sexism, not promoting them, an issue I will get to in a later post. Below is a Niteline interview where Sarah talks about her special brand on comedy.

Being female is a very important part of Sarah’s persona. (more…)

Sarah Silverman - Niteline Interview