Second Semester M.A. English Literature

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Laughter is not always the Best Medicine: Study ofSexist Humour in Popular Television Series

Varada K Rajendran

Second Semester M.A. English Literature

Vimala College, Thrissur

Abstract: Laughter is the best medicine according to popular dictum and in the hectic modern lifestyle everyone is only too eager to sit back and relax while watching a sitcom and laughalong with the laughter tracks. American television network offers a large array of comedy series and in the recent years, more programs are reaching Indian audience without much delay after their American broadcasts. A fair share of the population, especially the urbane and the educated from middleclass and above are viewers of these shows such as The Big Bang Theory or the older ones like Friends. However, what exactly constitutes the humour factor in these shows is another question. In addition to the burlesque and the racial jokes, risqué or blue comedy contribute largely to the comical element in these shows with a substantial amount of sexist humour and stereotyping of women thrown into the mixture. Indiscriminate viewers of these shows are taught to laugh along with the laughter cues, even to comments that are outright denigrating and occasionally mortifying. This paper focuses on sexual humour and stereotyping of women in two particular shows: Two and a Half Men and Two Broke Girls, with reference to similar elements in other popular American TV shows currently being broadcasted in Indian television in an attempt to bring out the influence of sexist humour on the viewers’ perception of women and gender roles with the aid of scientific studies in this field and its significance in our cultural scenario.

Key Words: Sexism, Humour, TV Shows, Gender, Perception

Eliciting laughter out of people is not always an easy task but millions of viewers around the world are relying on the ability of comedians, actors and ultimately the script writers to fulfil this task. Television channels are brimming with stand up comedians, comedyshows and reality shows on the lookout for even more talented comedians. Indian television

viewers are offered an array of comic programs by regional, national and international networks. Most popular Malayalam channels have their own comedy serials and reality shows with comic base. One of the major clichéd sources of humour is the inept, promiscuous or money hungry female who is reformed by the male. The nationally acclaimed show, Comedy Nights with Kapil depends heavily on the female characters to be the butt of the joke. The wife is repeatedly ridiculed for her thick lips, the aunt for being a spinster, another female portrayed by a man in costume for being fat and such like. Though Kapil Sharma punctuates the show with the disclaimer that women should be respected, his actions and words are contrary to this and succeeds only in delivering a sarcastic punch line. The show’s popularity remains unabated despite its obvious condescension towards any female that does not fit the picture of the ideal body image and social status, along with a complete disregard for her intellectual capabilities.

American shows originally aired by ABC, CBS etc. reach Indian audience without delay through Star network channels, Comedy Central, Zee Cafe and other channels exclusively broadcasting occasionally British and mostly American television shows. Though these channels cannot claim viewership from all strata of society whether in terms of education, age or income, they certainly have audience among the youngsters, the affluent, urbanites and people from the middle or the upper classes. When the series Friends initially reached Indian television it received an enthusiastic welcome and it can be considered as one of the precursors to an assortment of comedy shows that would soon bombard the Indian viewers and enchant them with the magical power of laughter cues.

Two and a Half Mencreated by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn is an extremely popular sitcom that portrayed the lives of the Charlie Harper, a jingle writer who is rich, alcoholic and a womanizer, his divorced brother Alan and his son Jake. Charlie Sheen played the role of Charlie Harper until he was replaced by Ashton Kutcher who became Walden Schmidt, the new owner of Charlie’s beach residence where most of the show is set. Despite the change in cast what remains unchanged is the identity of the female characters in the show. Filled with blatant sexist comments, sexual innuendoes and sex jokes, all of which are accompanied by laughter tracks, the show makes no pretension of being fair to women and freely indulges in exploitation of stereotyped females. The four female characters that are part of the original cast include Evelyn, mother of Charlie and Alan; Rose, Charlie’s friendly stalker; Judith, Alan’s ex-wife and Berta, the housekeeper. Evelyn is shown as a manipulative ruthless realtor who sees even a funeral as potential business and a dreadful mother who is occasionally accused by Charlie of damaging him as a child with her disastrous parenting. Rose is apparently educated and rich but seems to be obsessed with Charlie despite his lack of interest in her and womanizing inclinations. Judith is seen as a mean controlling woman and Berta is simply asexual with no character development throughout the series. The other women who appear in the show are primarily Charlie’s sexual partners who serve as the epitomes of the beautiful, vain and brainless female stereotype other than one or two comparatively negligible exceptions. If the apparent sexism in this show can be blamed on the creators, producers, screenplay writers and actors who are mostly men and a storyline centred around two men, this argument is negated by another show from CBS: Two Broke Girls, co-created by Whitney Cummings and Michael Patrick King; the story of two women, street-smart Max and former heiress Caroline Channing.

Despite the women-centric plot and cast, the overuse of sexist jokes is prevalent in this show. Moreover, it even goes to the extent of presenting rape jokes accompanied by the inevitable laughter track. In an episode focused on the stifling New York heat Max says, “Stop fighting it. Just give in to it. I don’t know why I’m quoting a rapist” (Goodman). In another episode Max begins her rape humour byunderminingdate rape. She makes a joke about how handing out business cards is just as needy as a one-woman theatre show,exaggeratedly imitating awoman’s voice, saying,“Somebody date-raped me and I didn’t think I’d live through it, but I did, but now I am stronger… and still needy”(“And”). She also goes to the extent of saying that it is not rape if the man is good-looking. Sexual harassment at workplace is twisted into a matter easily cleared by having an ever-present sense of humour and low self esteem. The chef, Oleg, at the diner Max and Caroline works as waitresses, regularly makes sexual insinuations and never once do the women firmly reprimand this man rather than treat it as expected behaviour from a colleague.

The element of gender stereotyping is pervasive in many other shows as well. Another popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory has the elementary plot line which reaffirms every discriminatory gender framework there is. The leading female character, Penny, who is yet to get a last name, is a beautiful blonde who is uneducated and unsuccessful in her career and whose only reason for enrolling in college is to impress her boyfriend; although she is the object of desire for men and worldly in nature. Penny’s ignorance is one of the chief sources of humour in the show. On the other hand, Amy Farrah Fowler is a successful neuroscientist and never apologizes for being brilliant but she is depicted as socially inept, unattractive and unable to have a fulfilling physical relationship. The balance is seen only in the third female lead, Bernadette, who manages to do it by downplaying her intellect. The four major male characters, Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj, are successful scientists or engineers. Leonard’s mother is a psychologist and erudite but she is an emotionless anomaly as a mother and the cause of his emotional issues and this is contrasted by Sheldon’s mother who emanates love and warmth but who is simple in faith and manners, a simpleton who doesn’t even attempt to fathom the complicated scientific world of her son. The general implication is that, being a successful woman academician or career woman and being attractive to men or having a successful relationship are mutually exclusive.

The element of sexism can be traced in most of the soap operas, sitcoms and even

reality shows but such is our social perception that we often fail to recognise sexism because it is playing with concepts that have been already established as the norm in our society. But the impact of sexist humour can be more potent than the re-establishment of stereotypes by a maudlin television serial. As sitcoms have laughter cues to guide the audience and instinctively generate laughter out of them before they might have assimilated the true meaning of the words. In a research paper published by JulieA. Woodzicka and Thomas E. Ford in Europe’s Journal of Psychology, the direct and indirect effects of exposure to sexist humour have been studied. “Sexist humour communicates denigration of women while simultaneously trivializing sex discrimination under the veil of benign amusement” (qtd. in Woodzicka and Ford) says Brigitte Bill and Peter Naus in their essay “The role of humor in the interpretation of sexist incidents.”According to Woodzicka and Ford, the direct effects of sexist humour include the immediate impact and reaction while indirect effects pertain to the long term influence on gender perception and sexist behaviour.

Disposition Theory of Zillman and Cantor states that “the degree of amusement elicited by disparagement humour is related positively to the degree to which one holds negative attitudes toward the disparaged target” (qtd. in Woodzicka and Ford). Thus the inherent or accumulated antagonism toward women determines the degree of entertainment the viewer or listener derives from the jokes denigrating women. Ambivalent Sexism Inventory created by Peter Glick and Susan Fiske measures two types of sexist attitudes: hostile and benevolent. The former arises from antagonism towards women and the latter from a positive attitude towards women rooted in male dominance and conventional stereotypes. Research indicates that men and women high in hostile sexism appreciate sexist jokes more than others including those with benevolent sexism. Multiple studies have found that making and appreciating sexist humour is a tacit consent to sexual discrimination in a context where the listener is not dictated by social norms to reject sexism since it is veiled in humour. “Men exposed to sexist humour and enjoyed it were found less willing to endorse women’s liberation ideology“(Chapman and Gadfield) and they were also more prone to believe rape myths and negative sexual ideals according to studies done by Kathryn Ryan and Jeanne Kanjorski. Research has also found that sexist humour can potentially condone sexual harassment and create hostile work environment for women. It also influences how men perceive gender roles and react to gender discrimination as well their willingness to partake in subtle sexist behaviour. Society’s attitude towards discrimination against women is still ambivalent and hence sexist humour depends on the immediate circumstances to defend it and determine its reception. Attempts to trivialize sexual harassment or rape by blaming the victim is still seen in the certain outrageous comments from popular and powerful figures after every rape case that is taken up by the mass media. Even online articles or videos in YouTube that pertains to sexism in television shows have received comments from readers and viewers advocating the writers to lighten up and develop a sense of humour “Sexist humour is a subtle method of releasing gender prejudices and discrimination without fear of social recrimination” (Woodzicka and Ford). Its tolerance is unacceptable and its recognition is the first step. The Indian versions of popular American shows reach television after rigorous editing yet manage to be filled with offensive humour from the perspective of a person who is gender sensitive. The patriarchal outlook of Indian society is in its initial stages of reformation and the influence of sexism sugar-coated as humour will be only a safe mode of expressing and reaffirming the stereotypes and dangerous social conventions. The imminent necessity is hence not only removing sexism as a well of humour overdrawn by mass media but sensitizing the audience to the immorality of such an act and removing the comic nature wrongly attributed to sexism.

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