Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Keywords

Gender, Social Norms, Comedy, Performance

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

There is a scarcity of high-earning and successful female stand-up comedians performing today, and a substantial amount of popular and academic literature attempting to explore why that is. This is particularly problematic because comedy is a powerful tool used to influence and challenge social norms. You may hear people say that they don’t particularly like “female comedy” but there is very little literature on how exactly female comedians are different from their male counterparts. This study examines the differences within the stand-up comedy material of five successful male comedians and five successful female comedians, selected on the basis of social media presence. Furthermore, it provides explanations, guided by existing literature, for why the gendered differences exist. Through a content analysis of each comedian’s latest comedy special, differences in the topics, targets, types of humor, and types of comedic roles used in the material are identified. The findings suggest that the gender differences can be explained by the influence of the larger social structure on gender power dynamics. Authority and possession of a legitimate perspective is needed in order to successfully perform comedy. Female comedians are perceived as having less authority and a having a marginal perspective, and it is therefore less acceptable that they challenge or influence social norms.

Download

Share

COinS