Women and Laughs

This was a topic that I enjoyed talking about in class greatly. I know participation isn’t necessarily a strong point for me but I made sure I was heard with this. I truly do feel as if women don’t have to be funny. In our society, women are not forced to be funny at all actually. When you look at females like Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie, you don’t see “funny”, you see beauty. When you look at females like “Melissa McCarthy and Ellen DeGeneres” you don’t necessarily see a beautiful woman, but a funny one. I realize that may sound a little sexist but that’s not how I’m trying to sound. When I look for a woman, I don’t say “she has to be funny.” If she has a great personality, you don’t need to be funny. The videos that we watched of Melissa McCarthy in class were a prime example of how women act to be funny. I have no problem with her style of comedy whatsoever, but for her to be funny she generally takes on a more male-related role or a “big girl” role. In the SNL clips, she was a ranch taster (big girl) and a sexual harasser (male-related). In Bridesmaids, she acted like a man to get laughs. I’m not saying that all female comics resort to this type of comedy for laughs, but most do. It’s very rare that you see a woman acting like a genuine woman, but just happens to be funny.