Recently, I attended the general interest meeting for Bing Stand Up, our campus’s only stand-up comedy club, affectionately dubbed “A safe haven for bad jokes.” Roughly 100 people attended, all eager to try out their material. As a novice, I was intimidated to be among what I thought was an experienced and Y-chromosome-dominated crowd. I was pleasantly surprised to see a far more diverse group of people, with women accounting for at least 30 percent of the members. Judging by the prevalence of women in comedy, we have come a long way since the days of John Belushi, who would deliberately sabotage work written by female writers on “Saturday Night Live.” Although primitive stereotypes against women are still alive in comedy, they are not thriving as they once were.
We now face a more subtle strain of sexism in comedy: the need for women to use self-deprecation for laughter. That being said, self-deprecation is one of the most amusing and successful genres of comedy. Who doesn’t love to hear Louis C.K. goof on his inability to stop binge-eating or Amy Schumer’s real American Horror Story dating experiences? The source material is limitless, but unfortunately, embarrassing stories are a necessary component for female comedians. Women seem to embrace the stereotype of an alluring, sexual scholar, or someone who just can’t get it together. Women sometimes feel pressured to capitalize on their imperfections and social ineptitude. Even for women in the workplace, the best resort is sometimes making themselves the center of the joke. Even the careers of comedic legends Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers reinforce the idea that if female comedians are not pretty enough, they resort to the role of shrewish clowns. Both Diller and Rivers received the most laughs by mocking their outlandish appearances, in the form of eccentric hair for Diller and flamboyant makeup for Rivers.
We look at gorgeous, witty and successful comedians like Tina Fey and wonder, “Why does she have to reduce herself to something way less than she is?” We look at her equally amusing character Liz Lemon from her hit sitcom “30 Rock” and laugh the hardest when Lemon is in a position of degradation, like waking up with her hand stuck in a Pringle’s can. We laugh because we sympathize with Lemon. “30 Rock” is a triumph because, while it is laced with intense self-loathing and pity, there are moments in every episode where our heroine shines, and her brilliance and bravery conquers all.
The lesson to be learned by every comedian, especially those of the fairer and fiercer sex, is that anything can be made funny if it is not inherently funny. Why make ourselves the punch line when so many men already do this for us? If any woman is brave enough to go on stage and bear her soul to us, she can hardly be labelled a loser. Female comedians should stop putting themselves down at every opportunity. Self-deprecation is witty and hysterical as long as it is not the fallback for every joke.