I have two all-time favorite Ms. Magazine covers. The first is the “Rape is Rape” cover, which I think is brilliant in all its stark simplicity. The second is the cartoon in which the man says, “Did you know the feminist movement has no sense of humor?” To which the woman replies, “No, but hum a few bars and I’ll fake it.” This is the cover that Professor Fisher-Fishkin used as the first image of the night during her lecture on feminist humor and it could not be more apt. The thing about feminist humor is: it’s subversive, it’s self-referential, it’s revolutionary… but above all, it’s funny.
Professor Fisher-Fishkin began her talk with a quote from Mark Twain, “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” This theme of humor as a weapon was something that pervaded her talk as she went on to discuss the ways in which feminists can and do use humor as a revolutionary tool. As Professor Fisher-Fishkin said, “any joke is potentially subversive” and I think that she did a great job of displaying the diverse ways in which feminist humor can subvert the dominant paradigm.
She dove into examples such as inversion (flipping the gender to point out the absurdism of sexism), impersonation, and illumination (making the invisible visible).
Before taking questions and examples, she ended with the quote, “Feminist humor is serious and it is about changing this world.”
Overall, I thought this was a fantastic lecture that proved feminists can take a joke… as long as it’s funny.
However, when she then asked the audience for questions and examples, the generational divide reared its ugly head. One of the older members of the audience stood up and discussed how young women are setting the feminist movement back by self-objectifying through dress.
I’m quite frankly sick of hearing this argument. While I do think there is something to be said for the case that young women should not feel pressured to be sexual, I also think there’s nothing wrong with a young adult choosing to express her sexuality through her choice in clothing… even if that makes some older feminists think she’s dressing like a slut. It’s time we stop slut-shaming and look at the deeper issues affecting women and the objectification of their sexuality.
That being said, from there, the audience participation took a more humorous tone as people began to share their favorite examples of feminist humor. A favorite of mine was the sharing of “Feminist Hulk,” an anonymous Twitter account which is here to “SMASH GENDER BINARY.”
Feminist humor is awesome and here to stay. Yes, feminism takes on serious issues: rape, the wage gap, reproductive justice… But that doesn’t mean that we can’t revolutionize with a laugh or two. Humor may be the best medicine… but it’s also the best weapon.
I, too, am tired of the "dressing provocatively" argument within the feminist movement. I think a part of this problem lies within the western lens we've been taught to view our surroundings with. Although I don't think that human bodies should be desexualized (how horrifying and NOT fun would that be?!), I do think that more emphasis should be placed on the amount of life, joy, and pleasure our bodies are capable of providing. It's always saddened me how so many of our fellow people, whether they be uncles, aunts, teachers, or the random person walking next to you on the street, treat human bodies as if they're incubuses of viral plague. We're taught that it's bad to explore our bodies; to really KNOW our bodies. It's a social ill. And this ill is evident in the amount of anorexia, obesity, suicide, domestic violence, and drug & alcohol abuse that is present. We aren't taught to love the human body and value it for every single reason it should be valued. Instead, it's been made out to be this "thing," this nasty thing where nasty things happens and the only way we can deal with such nasty things is behind closed doors with our life-long partner or a doctor. =(
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is such an important, unexplored topic among not only feminist, but also more generally among social change activists. Coming from a family that has a pretty serious obsession with comedy, especially standup comedy, it was impossible for me to find any humor in some of the extremely sexist, homophobic, racist garbage spewing from the mouths of mostly heterosexual, white men. Somehow, this indicates my lack of sense of humor. I feel that there are simply certain topics that are much too serious to be taken lightly (and feminists, and anti-racist and queer activist are simply more likely to refuse to do so).
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