Humorless feminism

Feminists are routinely lampooned as humorless creatures, as in the classic joke: Q: How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? A: That's not funny! (that actually is kind of funny, at least to some feminists).

There are several reasons for this:

Sexist humor

As openly declared prejudice against ethnic groups is no longer considered acceptable, humor based on ethnic stereotypes (polak jokes, for example) has also declined. Sexism is still culturally acceptable in many quarters, however, and so is sexist humor (blonde jokes, for example).

Feminists who try to point out that a sexist joke is offensive are often accused of lacking a sense of humor, as this response allows the jester to deny that there was anything offensive about the joke.

Attacking under pretense of humor

In her "Verbal Self Defense" books, linguist Suzette Haden Elgin has identified several types of covert verbal attacks. These are ways that a verbal bully can attack their victim subtly. If the victim calls the bully on their attack, one way for the bully to maintain the pretense that they were not actually attacking would be to claim that their verbal attack was not intended seriously: "can't you take a joke?"

In Haden Elgin's books, the bully and victim can be any gender. But when the bully is sexist or misogynist, then we get something like this:

A: Women can't drive. B: You know, that's really not true, and in fact is a sexist generalization. A: Geez, feminists have got no sense of humor.

By pretending that he was "only joking," A distances himself from his original sexist remark (de-escalating his attack), and stifles B's criticism of his sexist attitude as being "humorless."

Gendered humor

Many jokes poke fun at (stereotypes of) men and women. Because society is male dominated, jokes that make fun of women are far more common. If the joke has a biting or misogynist edge, women are unlikely to find the joke funny.

A sexist double standard works in this situation: a woman who responds to such jokes by telling a similarly sharp joke that makes fun of men will be told (by men) "that's not funny," while a woman who responds to such jokes by saying that the woman-hating joke is not funny will be told that she is a humorless feminist.

Attacks on women as humorless

In part because of the gendered nature of humor and the double standard (that making fun of women is OK, but making fun of men is not), women are supposed to be somehow less funny than men, or funny only in particular ways (self-deprecating humor, menstrual humor). Female comedians have faced the typical sexist barriers, but also had to combat the notion that women, somehow, are inherently incapable of doing humor.

Gloria Kaufman (In Stitches: A Patchwork of Feminist Humor and Satire) and Roz Warren (The Best Contemporary Women's Humor; Women's Glibber: State-of-the-Art Women's Humor) discuss this false notion, and their books constitute a debunking of it.

The stereotype of women as humorless has shaped the history of women as professional comedians, and affected the portrayal of female characters in fictional works. Numerous anti-feminist works have portrayed matriarchal or egalitarian rule as humorless or joyless. For example, Robert Chambers' The Gay Rebellion (1913)

In fact, of course, humor is a survival response and coping mechanism for oppressed groups or underclasses, including women. Satirical humor mocking the privileged and the entire system of privilege (patriarchy) is one direction of humor, and one which may seem particularly un-funny to folks who support patriarchal norms.

Further reading

• Regina Barreca, Last Laughs: Perspectives on Women and Comedy (1988)
• Regina Barreca, They Used to Call Me Snow White ... But I Drifted (1992) (essays & theory)
• Regina Barreca, The Penguin Book of Women's Humor: Women's Strategic Use of Humor
• Denise Collier and Kathleen Beckett, editors, Spare Ribs: Women in the Humor Biz (1980) (anthology of interviews with female comedians)
• Nancy Davis, Creme de la Femme: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Women Writers, Lyricists, Playwrights and Cartoonists (1997) (anthology of women's humor)
• Gloria Kaufman, editor, In Stitches: A Patchwork of Feminist Humor and Satire (1991) (anthology)
• Gloria Kaufman, Pulling Our Own Strings: Feminist Humor and Satire (anthology)
• Ann E. Larson & Carole A. Carr, Silverleaf's Choice: An Anthology of Lesbian Humor (1990) (anthology)
• Linda Morris, American Women Humorists: Critical Essays (1994) (anthology of critical essays)
• Trina Robbins & Catherine Yronwode, Women and the Comics (1983) (anthology)
• Trina Robbins, A Century of Women Cartoonists (1993) (anthology)
• June Sochen, Women's Comic Visions (1991)
• Nancy Walker & Zita Dresner, editors, American Women's Literary Humor from Colonial Times to the 1980s (1988) (anthology of humor)
• Nancy Walker, A Very Serious Thing: Women's Humor and American Culture (1988)
• Rosalind Warren, Women's Glib series (anthologies of humor)
• Roz Warren, Revolutionary Laughter: The World of Women Comics (anthology of interviews with female comedians)
• Roz Warren, Dyke Strippers: Lesbian Cartoonists A to Z (anthology of humor)
• special issues/focuses in Ms., Bust, Bitch magazine
  • Andi Zeisler, "Funny Girls Get No Respect," Bitch magazine