Who's Laughing Now?: Feminist Perspectives on Humour and Laughter

by Anna Frey (Editor)

Overview

From dour old women to buzzkills who can't take a joke, the stereotype of the humourless feminist has repeatedly been deployed to derail and delegitimize the women's rights movement. This collection skips the tired debates that ask whether feminists can be funny—we know the answer to this already—to instead investigate contemporary expressions and functions of humour within international feminist movements and communities. This interdisciplinary volume showcases critical analyses of cultural texts and events, personal accounts of producing and encountering feminist humour, and creative interruptions that pair laughter with insight. As a whole, this work seeks to sideline caricatures of the humourless feminist by promoting a vision of a diverse movement vibrant with innovative, generous, threatening, and, ultimately, triumphant laughter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772583182
Publisher:	Demeter Press
Publication date:	02/15/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Anna Frey is a sexual health and abortion counselor, dedicated volunteer, and dog-parent to anunruly poodle. Anna lives and works in Toronto. Anna Frey is a sexual health and abortion counselor, dedicated volunteer, and dog-parent to an unruly poodle. Anna lives and works in Toronto.

Table of Contents

Introduction Anna Frey 7

1 I Would Come Up with a Funny Title, but I'm Just a Girl: Women, Comedy, and an Evolved Sense of Humour Vanessa Voss 13

2 Phenomenology of a Feminist Joke and the Quintessential Emotional Labour in Maria Bamford's Comedy Natalja Chestopalova 29

3 I Have to Laugh, or I'll Die Aba Amuquandoh 43

4 "Man, That Guy's Sad... but He Killed": Survivors of Sexual Violence Joke about Rape Anna Frey 49

5 The Bad Mothers Club: In Cyberspace You Can Hear the Unruly Women Laughing Anitra Goriss-Hunter 61

6 Making It Up As They Go Along: An Analysis of Feminist Comedy in the Prairies Marley Duckett 75

7 "Immoral, Slut, Arsehole": Feminist Memes Reclaim Stereotypes Sai Amulya Komarraju 87

8 Queens of the Castle: Intergenerational Conversations about Elaine Benes's (Imperfect) Feminism Stephanie Patrick Hayley R. Crooks 105

9 Lighten Up! Life as a Vegetarian Feminist, or the Most Uptight Person in the World Margaret Betz 121

10 That Time I Tried to Date a Frat Boy Alyson Rogers 135

Notes on Contributors 141

Editorial Reviews

"Who’s Laughing Now? Feminist Perspectives on Humour and Laughter is a collection of engaging, creative, and academic contributions that illustrate the sociopolitical importance of humour in our lives. This collection, masterfully assembled by Anna Frey, will make you laugh, reflect, and – mostly - question the power of humour to shape how we understand gender. This is a must read!" —Pamela J. Downe, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan, Past-President/Présidente sortante, Canadian Anthropology Society/Société canadienne d'anthropologie


"This collection makes an engrossing contribution to an evolving body of feminist literature on humour. The range of perspectives and writing styles featured appeal to a broad readership, engaging in both academic and general feminist considerations of humour. The content has cross-disciplinary relevance to academic teaching and research, as well as underscoring personal and experiential voices for a broadly accessible discussion. An effective and timely interdisciplinary contribution!" —J. Maki Motapanyane, Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Mount Royal University

From the Publisher