Because I’ve always been a great admirer of Christopher Hitchens, I’ve long avoided reading his almost unbelievably tone-deaf essay Why Women Aren’t Funny. Oddly, for such an articulate master of debate, he is, in this essay, defensive and well…not very funny.
What he doesn’t get about women and humour in the face of male power is that we’ve been laughing at men (quietly) for thousands of years. It was our only defence against the situation we found ourselves in. Women have been more attuned to the comical aspects of those in power for a painfully long time. But we’ve had to keep our sense of humour and our wit hidden for fear of pretty much instant death. As Margaret Atwood said: “Men are afraid women will laugh at them and women are afraid men will kill them.”
It’s easy for male comedians to find an audience. Female comedians have had to first find a way to believe in themselves in the face of contempt and invisibility (you can’t be funny if no one is willing to give you an audience), and then muster up that extra courage needed to perform in front of a hostile audience.
They found a way and are now firmly established as pretty damn funny. Even British panel shows now have increasing numbers of female comedians as part of their previously all-male line ups.
So Christopher, on the Iraq war and female comedians, you pretty much missed the mark altogether. But after all, no one is perfect, not even a man.
To read the essay: https://bit.ly/2IGMuRj
Dark Spirit 