Blog Post #5 - Satire & Gender

 This week we engaged with a handful of readings relating to gender in interpersonal communication. One of the texts that I found particularly captivating was entitled "Hannah Gadsby: On the Limits of Satire" written by Rebecca Krefting. One aspect of this reading that immediately drew my attention was the highlighting of gender inequality within stand-up comedy. As a person who identifies as a woman, I have always enjoyed stand-up comedy, however, I have consistently been posed with moral dilemmas over this guilty pleasure as there are visible gender inequalities within the industry. The dialogue that is present between differently gendered individuals within satire can be incredibly limiting and exclusive. Krefting describes this in her article saying, "Satire has long been the province of men, and it has been difficult for women, especially women of color, to deploy it without penalty, in part owing to the angry nature of satire. Gadsby says, “People really only feel safe when men do the angry comedy. . . . I do it and I’m just an angry lesbian ruining all the fun and banter.” (Krefting, 99-100). This idea that comedy is a male-driven industry being "infiltrated" by counter-culture individuals is toxic and exclusionary. Gadsby highlights this in her stand-up set Nanette, putting an emphasis on her lived experiences of being a lesbian in comedy and the world. She wanted to begin shifting the cultural narrative around satire, identity, and discrimination by being vulnerable. Krefting writes, "In Nanette, Hannah Gadsby is angry and not performing in the service of comedy. She intentionally illustrates the power of this emotion by introducing tension in the form of anger and then refusing to assuage it so as not to render sexism or homophobia laughable." (Krefting, 100). By exemplifying her very points in this performance, Gadsby made her mark on the comedic industry for many women to come. 

I found this text very well-written and thought-provoking as it highlights the many issues women face in a unique male-dominated industry such as comedy. I was particularly intrigued by this article because, as stated previously, I am a sucker for good stand-up comedy. However, as a regular viewer of such content, it has become apparent that the issues within the industry are long-standing and dominate the sphere. Many comedians use satire to produce thought-out, well-prepared, universally funny bits. However, just as many comedians, and sometimes the same ones, will use marginalized communities as the butt of their jokes. While this satire may seem harmless and fun to one audience, can be completely dehumanizing to another. Recently I watched the newly released comedy set "The Closer" performed by Dave Chappelle. Chappelle is a famous stand-up comedian with years of experience in the industry, hundreds of hours on stage, and a few controversies. He discussed some important social issues in this set that echo the points Gadsby intended to emphasize, however, not without fault. One example Chappelle used was an interaction he had with a gay white male. In this scenario, the two parties were involved in a confrontation that resulted in the white male proposing calling the cops. While Chappelle uses satire to frame the story, he diverts into the issue of discrimination using his experience as a marginalized black man and the experience of the gay white man. The two different marginalized communities--the LGBTQ+ community and people of color--share similar cultural experiences in that they are both discriminated against, however on radically different levels. On the contrary, Chappelle has simultaneously used controversial language that demeans Gadsby's identity as recently as this month that counteracts these topics. I think Chappelle uses this scenario to highlight important marginalized identities and how the public discourse surrounding satire is incredibly limiting when intending to bring awareness to an issue, nonetheless his critique of Gadsby is hypocritical. I think this is ironic as what Gadsby was getting at with her set is exactly what Chappelle didn't do, despite the awareness he may be bringing. I am looking forward to viewing more stand-up comedy sets that validate these issues and hopefully bring a positive perspective to the dialogue within comedy and identity.