I found the article about comedian Hannah Gadsby called "On the Limits of Satire" to be particularly fascinating. In it, author Rebecca Krefting says she "uses comedy to interrogate comedy and the ways production and consumption are gendered, among them the pressure placed on women to self-depreciate in order to satisfy gendered cultural values and expectations of femininity. Her use of self-depreication in Nanette is instructional by highlighting the sacrifices she must make- to her integrity, intelligence, and sense of self-worth to succeed in comedy" (Krefting, 94). Hannah's comedic work aims to shine light on how women often are only funny if we pick on ourselves. We often have to feed into the negative stereotypes about ourselves for the content to be relatable and therefore funny. Hannah says there's a limit of satire that she no longer wants to cross because she doesn't want to continue upholding sexist or patriarchial stereotypes that are frequently prescribed in comedy.
In recent years I’ve gained a lot of confidence and try to be more aware of not accidentally saying something self-deprecating relating to my gender just to alleviate tension in a situation or crack a joke. However, I do catch myself not giving myself enough credibility or advocate for myself enough because of my age. In how I think and even in the comments I make to people, particularly higher-ups, I’ll brush challenges or tasks off because I’m “still in college” or “just the intern”. When in reality, I’ve gone through most of my schooling and have had a few internships which give me the credibility I deserve to not have to jokingly dumb myself down when speaking with senior people. This article is a great reminder to carry yourself with pride and dignity and not stoop to unjust stereotypes about yourself.
Krefting, Rebecca. “Hannah Gadsby: On the Limits of Satire.” Studies in American Humor, vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, pp. 93–102, https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.5.1.0093.
Hi Lauren, I think it's really admirable to hear about how you have been working on trying to actively be aware of what you say and how it relates to gender. Making self-deprecating jokes is something that I too am guilty of - it can be incredibly challenging to change habits that we have been used to for years. I also think that this sort of humor or even just deprecating comments related to gender is something that is more common among women than we as a society acknowledge. Something I have been trying to work on personally is saying "sorry" more than I need to. This is because I think that it is really common for women to constantly feel the need to apologize over things in order to keep the peace.
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