In the article “Who Says Women Aren’t Funny”, written by Alessandra Stanley, the author provides an in-depth analysis of the dismay of gender and hetro-normalized expectations that female comedians within the entertainment industry are expected to abide by. The author includes evidence of past and present women comedians that have initiated a comedic feminist evolution in order to elicit a sense of freedom of expression. This evolution of the women’s movement was intended to reject the concept of women cowering under narrow-minded archetypes in order to provide comedic content that is acceptable to the male-dominated entertainment industry. Similarly, “My Vagina is Fine Thanks for Asking, author Jenny Lawson defies the restrictions placed to
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It is a common misbelief that women are incapable of being funny. As Stanley mentions in her passage, “the polymorphously polemic Christopher Hitchens argued that, in general, women are not funny, and certainly not as funny as men. For some reason, he wrote, ‘women do not find their own physical decay and absurdity to be so riotously amusing’, which is why we admire Lucille Ball and Helen Fielding, who do see the funny side of it” (Stanley 7). Jenny Lawson chooses to express her comedic content similar to that of Lucille Ball and Helen Fielding. Contrary to common belief, women do find jokes about their bodies funny and are very much interested in “dick and fart” jokes. Within Lawson’s text she states, “...(W)hen the doctor is stitching your vagina back up (for real, child-free people: Stitching. Your. Vagina. Up). I don’t know why they don’t throw in some cosmetic surgery while they are down there, to make it look cuter” (Lawson 152). Lawson actively defies the restrictive notion that women cannot find humor in their bodily functions by creating jokes that discuss her realities of her pregnancy and the aftermath of her body. When women center their comedy in ways that are similar to jokes of male …show more content…
Stanley discusses the evolution of the importance of the physical appearance women are expected to acquire to be taken seriously, she details that the evolution went from, “...(W)omen were not funny. Then they couldn’t be funny if they were pretty. Now a female comedian has to be pretty—even sexy—to get a laugh” (Stanley 10). Therefore, physical looks are not equally as important for men as they are for women in the entertainment industry. Women are expected to look the part and imitate hilarious masculine content in order to entertain their audience. However, for women to be taken somewhat seriously within the entertainment industry they either have to resemble a sex symbol or a “dykey” masculine figure that emulates the characteristics of a man. According to Stanley, “Women either had to compete—head-on, in the aggressive style of Paula Poundstone or Lisa Lampanelli—or subvert the form and make themselves offbeat and likable, the way that Whoopi Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres do. As Elaine May used to say regarding improv, “When in doubt, seduce.” By and large, however, stand-up comedy is tougher and meaner, and the women who do it play by men’s rules.” (Stanley 14). Lawson rejects these socially constructed archetypes by not conforming
It is a common misbelief that women are incapable of being funny. As Stanley mentions in her passage, “the polymorphously polemic Christopher Hitchens argued that, in general, women are not funny, and certainly not as funny as men. For some reason, he wrote, ‘women do not find their own physical decay and absurdity to be so riotously amusing’, which is why we admire Lucille Ball and Helen Fielding, who do see the funny side of it” (Stanley 7). Jenny Lawson chooses to express her comedic content similar to that of Lucille Ball and Helen Fielding. Contrary to common belief, women do find jokes about their bodies funny and are very much interested in “dick and fart” jokes. Within Lawson’s text she states, “...(W)hen the doctor is stitching your vagina back up (for real, child-free people: Stitching. Your. Vagina. Up). I don’t know why they don’t throw in some cosmetic surgery while they are down there, to make it look cuter” (Lawson 152). Lawson actively defies the restrictive notion that women cannot find humor in their bodily functions by creating jokes that discuss her realities of her pregnancy and the aftermath of her body. When women center their comedy in ways that are similar to jokes of male …show more content…
Stanley discusses the evolution of the importance of the physical appearance women are expected to acquire to be taken seriously, she details that the evolution went from, “...(W)omen were not funny. Then they couldn’t be funny if they were pretty. Now a female comedian has to be pretty—even sexy—to get a laugh” (Stanley 10). Therefore, physical looks are not equally as important for men as they are for women in the entertainment industry. Women are expected to look the part and imitate hilarious masculine content in order to entertain their audience. However, for women to be taken somewhat seriously within the entertainment industry they either have to resemble a sex symbol or a “dykey” masculine figure that emulates the characteristics of a man. According to Stanley, “Women either had to compete—head-on, in the aggressive style of Paula Poundstone or Lisa Lampanelli—or subvert the form and make themselves offbeat and likable, the way that Whoopi Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres do. As Elaine May used to say regarding improv, “When in doubt, seduce.” By and large, however, stand-up comedy is tougher and meaner, and the women who do it play by men’s rules.” (Stanley 14). Lawson rejects these socially constructed archetypes by not conforming