Search for equality
Why aren’t there more female comedians at Just for Laughs?
Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival is in full swing, and once again female comedians are in short supply.
The deck is squarely stacked against women in comedy, according to Sandrine Galand, a UQAM PhD candidate who recently taught a class on feminism in pop culture, in conjunction with the university’s Institut de recherches et d’études féministes.
“In terms of binary concepts of masculine and feminine, the structures and mechanics of humour are still very masculine,” Galand explained. “For standup shows, masculine traits are more tolerated.
“The very concept of standup, of telling jokes with punchlines, comes from a tradition based in aggression and self-confidence. Comedians decide when you laugh, they build tension, then release that tension. So when people see female comedians, they’re confronted with something that is considered abnormal or atypical.”
Women have long been excluded from what is considered humorous, Galand noted. And while progress has been made, the comedy world has not strayed too far from its longstanding status as a boys’ club, with funny women standing out as exceptions to the rule.
“Think of Joan Rivers,” she said. “From the early days of cinema, groundbreaking comedians of physical humour like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton or funny men like Woody Allen and Billy Crystal set the standard.”
Late-night TV is no different, with names like David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert dominating, and women left trying to get their foot in the door.
The problems are manifold, according to Galand.
“It happens on many fronts, beginning at the hiring level — think of writers’ rooms in the U.S. And while (Quebec’s) École national de l’humour is very careful about obtaining parity in their classes, before getting to the big stages comedians have to go through the bar scene, which is often more toxic for women.”
She points to a recent movement in the province to denounce rape culture in comedy, including sexist remarks and gestures that, over time, can weigh on female comedians and undermine their freedom of expression.
Galand’s course features one class devoted to the topic of women in comedy. She begins by asking students to name women in movies, TV and elsewhere; then she asks them which of those women are associated with being funny; and of those, which ones are making us laugh and which ones are we laughing at?
As the list gets smaller and smaller, the point of the exercise is to think about not only the lack of female representation in comedy, but the quality of it.
“Take Melissa McCarthy or Rebel Wilson,” Galand said. “The jokes are always about their weight — we laugh because they’re heavy. There’s a self-deprecation linked to a kind of female representation that is not menacing. In the end, we’re often laughing at women or making jokes behind their back.”
There are glimmers of hope, according to Galand, who cites Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby’s runaway hit show Nanette as an example of someone breaking through by ripping up the rule book of gender binarity. And Tig Notaro, who following breast cancer surgery performed topless in her 2015 HBO special Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted.